Adolescent Diabetes Mellitus: Parent/Child Perspectives of the Effect of the Disease on Family and Social Interactions

Abstract

To investigate the perceived effects of adolescent diabetes mellitus on family and social interactions from the children's and parents' perspectives, 50 teenagers with diabetes were studied: 21 from a private practice and 29 from a diabetes camp. Children and parents answered separately a specially prepared questionnaire dealing with daily life situations; the adolescents also responded to the Firo B questionnaire. On corresponding questions agreement between the responses of children and parents varied from as high as 86% to as low as 30%. Questions referring to the effect of diabetes on scholastic performance, concentration, and social life were associated with poor agreement. No correlation was found between the measure of agreement between parents and children on various responses and glycosylated hemoglobin determinations. The adolescents' perspectives were clearly influenced by sex and age of onset of diabetes. Female compared with male adolescents perceived significantly less effect from diabetes on scholastic performance and concentration, and the age of onset of their diabetes affected the measure of agreement with parents. In their responses to the Firo B questionnaire female diabetic adolescents differed significantly from norms in 2 of the 6 subscales measured, unlike male adolescents, whose scores were similar to those of norm groups. Male diabetic adolescents felt the most effect from diabetes on social life, scholastic performance, and concentration when they had developed the disease between 9 and 12 yr of age. Although the parents of this subgroup of adolescents underestimated these feelings, in general, parents of male and female diabetic adolescents perceived more effect from diabetes than their children.