the role of health locus of control in predicting depression ‎symptoms in a sample of ‎iranian older adults with chronic ‎diseases

objective: the purpose of this study was to examine the prediction of depression on a group of ‎iranian older adults based on components of health locus of control.‎ method: sixty-six men and 42 women over the age of 55 were recruited from the retirement ‎clubs in shiraz, using convenience sampling. the participants completed the research ‎questionnaires including the geriatric depression scale (gds) and the ‎multidimensional health locus of control scale (mhlc).‎ results: the findings on health locus of control revealed that the highest score was on internal ‎locus of control followed by god, powerful others and chance. the mean score on ‎depression was on a normal range. multiple regression analysis showed that two ‎independent variables including internal control (ß = -.32, p < 0.01) and god control ‎‎(ß = -.20, = p < 0.03) significantly predicted depression. the other components of ‎health locus of control such as chance and powerful others as well as age did not ‎predict depression. findings also revealed that the independents variables explained ‎‎26% of the total variance of depression (r2 = .26, p <0.001).‎ conclusion : this study provides more support for the application of theory of health locus of ‎control on depression.‎‎