Cross-cultural adaptation of Rotter's General Locus of Control instrument

To perform a cross-cultural adaptation of the General Locus of Control (GLoC) questionnaire, which measures where people place causation of events in their lives, i.e., if they interpret events as being the result of their own actions or external factors.

Methods

After translation and back-translation, a multidisciplinary committee judged and elaborated different versions of the GLoC questionnaire, with a focus on conceptual equivalence, content, comprehensibility and adjustment to the Brazilian socioeconomic context. The final version was tested on 71 healthy subjects, of whom 36 were reinterviewed and answered the GLoC questionnaire twice, after a mean of 73.06±74.15 days (range = 29-359).

Results

The participants' mean age was 30.82±12.83 years (range = 18-69), 62% were women, and mean years of schooling were 12.54±4.21. Test-retest reliability (Pearson's) was r = 0.828. Internal consistency resulted in a Cronbach's alpha of 0.906. The mean GLoC score obtained was 8.77±3.11 (n = 71).

Conclusion

The Portuguese version of the GLoC questionnaire is a faithful adaptation of Rotter's original questionnaire.

Keywords
Internal-external control; transcultural; adaptation; learned helplessness

Variable		n (%)
Gender
	Male	27 (38.0)
	Female	44 (62.0)
Age, mean (SD)		30.82 (12.83)
Years of schooling, mean (SD)		12.54 (4.21)
Education level
	>11 years of schooling	47 (66.2)
	≤ 11 years of schooling	24 (33.8)
Socioeconomic class
	A, B1 and B2	45 (63.4)
	C1, C2, D and E	26 (36.6)
Total group score, mean (SD)		8.77 (3.11)
	1st application score (n = 36)	9.75 (3.48)
	2nd application score (n = 36)	9.08 (3.49)
	Time (in days) between applications	73.06 (78.15)

		Mean(SD)	n	p^* * Student's t test.
1st application score				0.76
	≤ 60 days of interval	9.83 (3.46)	29
	> 60 days of interval	9.43 (3.78)	7
2nd application score				0.79
	≤ 60 days of interval	9.03 (3.45)	29
	> 60 days of interval	9.29 (3.95)	7

Variable			n	Mean	SD	p^* * Student's t-test.
Socioeconomic level^† † Social stratification according to the classification of Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Pesquisa (ABEP), 2015.17
	1st application score
		A, B1, and B2	18	9.22	2.90	0.43
		C1, C2, D, and E	18	10.28	3.98
	2nd application score
		A, B1, and B2	18	8.78	3.34	0.75
		C1, C2, D, and E	18	9.39	3.71
	Total group score
		A, B1, and B2	45	8.49	3.00	0.98
		C1, C2, D, and E	26	9.27	3.30
Gender
	1st application score
		Male	14	9.26	4.03	0.42
		Female	22	10.05	3.14
	2nd application score
		Male	14	9.00	4.04	0.57
		Female	22	9.14	3.20
	Total group scores
		Male	27	8.00	3.19	0.99
		Female	44	9.25	3.00

	Score on 1st application (n = 36)		Score on 2nd application (n = 36)		Total group score (n = 71)
	r	p	r	p	r	p
Score on 1st application	1	-	0.828	< 0.001^* * Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).	0.956	< 0.001^* * Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Age (years)	-0.216	0.205	-0.294	0.082	-0.198	0.098
Total years of schooling	-0.058	0.738	0.066	0.702	-0.142	0.237
Time interval	-0.155	0.366	-0.052	0.765	-0.108	0.531

Associação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul Av. Ipiranga, 5311/202, 90610-001 Porto Alegre RS/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 51) 3024 4846 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: trends@aprs.org.br

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[1] Correspondence: Katia Lin, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Hospital Universitário Polydoro Ernani de São Thiago, Rua Prof. Maria Flora Pausewang, s/n°, 3° andar, Caixa postal 5199, Campus Universitário, 88040-900 - Florianópolis, SC - Brazil, Tel.: +55 (48) 37212037, Fax: +55 (48) 37219014 E-mail: katia.lin@ufsc.br