16 1«Dis! Raconte moi mon histoire» Quel devenir pour les enfants seuls survivants d´une famille victime de l´infection par le VIH? 
Home Page  

  • SciELO

  • SciELO


Análise Psicológica

 ISSN 0870-8231

     

 

Family and friend support for adolescents with diabetes (*)

 

Annette M. La Greca (**)

Kristen M. Thompson (**)

 

 

ABSTRACT

The present paper describes two studies of social support provided by family members and friends for adolescents' diabetes care. Using a structured interview, 74 middle-income and 62 socioeconomically disadvantaged adolescents with diabetes described the ways that family members and friends provided support for several aspects of diabetes care (insulin shots, blood glucose monitoring, eating proper meals, exercise, and «feeling good about their diabetes»). In both samples, family members provided more support than did friends for diabetes care, especially for daily management tasks; friends provided considerable emotional support for diabetes. Few differences in support levels were observed as a function of the adolescents' socioeconomic status. However, more of the low-income adolescents had friends who did not provide any support for their diabetes care. Implications of the findings are discussed with respect to encouraging parents to remain involved in adolescents' treatment, and involving peers as supportive companions for the lifestyle aspects of adolescents' diabetes care.

Keywords: Adolescents, family support, peer support, diabetes care, adherence, friends.

 

RESUMO

Este artigo descreve dois estudos sobre o apoio social de familiares e amigos a adolescentes com diabetes. Através de entrevistas estruturadas, 74 adolescentes de classe média e 64 de classe socio-económica desfavorecida descrevem o apoio recebido em vários aspectos do tratamento da diabetes (injecções de insulina, análises da glicémia, alimentação adequada, exercício e no «sentir-se bem com a diabetes»). Em ambas as amostras, os familiares deram mais apoio nos tratamentos do que os amigos, especialmente nas tarefas quotidianas; os amigos deram sobretudo um apoio emocional considerável. Foram reduzidas as diferenças aos níveis de apoio em função do estatuto socio-económico dos adolescentes. No entanto, os adolescentes desfavorecidos tinham mais amigos que não davam apoio no tratamento da diabetes. Discutem-se as implicações dos resultados no sentido de encorajar os pais a participar no tratamento dos adolescentes, e de envolver os pares como companheiros que podem dar um apoio importante nos aspectos da vida social social mais afectados pela diabetes.

Palavras-chave: Adolescentes, apoio familiar, apoio dos pares, tratamento da diabetes, aderência, amigos.

 

 

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text only available in PDF format.

 

 

REFERENCES

Anderson, B. J., Auslander, W. F., Jung, K. C., Miller, J. P., & Santiago, J. V. (1990). Assessing family sharing of diabetes responsibilities. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 15, 477-492.

        [ Links ]

Anderson, B. J., Miller, J. P., Auslander, W. F., & Santiago, J. (1981). Family characteristics of diabetic adolescents: Relations to metabolic control. Diabetes Care, 4, 586-594.

Berndt, T. J. (1989). Obtaining support from friends during childhood and adolescence. In D. Belle (Ed.), Children's social networks and social supports (pp. 308-331). New York: John Wiley.

Cauce, A. M., Reid, M., Landesman, S., & Gonzalez, N. (1990). Social support in young children: Measurement, structure, and behavioral impact. In B. R. Sarason, I. G. Sarason, & G. R. Pierce (Eds.), Social support: An interactional view (pp. 64-94). New York: John Wiley.

Chassin, L., Presson, C. C., Sherman, S. J., Montello, D., & McGrew, J. (1986). Changes in peer and parent influence during adolescence: Longitudinal versus cross-sectional perspectives on smoking initiation. Developmental Psychology, 22, 327-334.

Cohen, S., & Wills, T. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310-357.

Davidson, M. B. (1986). Diabetes mellitus: Diagnosis and treatment. New York: John Wiley.

Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (1993). New England Journal of Medicine, 329, 683-689.

Follansbee, D. S. (1989). Assuming responsibility for diabetes care: What age, what price? Diabetes Educator, 15, 347-352.

Furman, W. (1989). The development of children's social networks. In D. Belle (Ed.), Children's social networks and social supports (pp. 151-172). New York: John Wiley.

Gross, A. M., Johnson, W. G., Wildman, H. E., & Mullet, M. (1981). Coping skills training with insulin dependent preadolescent diabetics. Child Behavior Therapy, 3, 141-153.

Hanson, C. L., Henggeler, S. W., & Burghen, G. A. (1987). Social competence and parental support as mediators of the link between stress and metabolic control in adolescents with IDDM. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 529-533.

Hanson, C. L., De Guire, M. J., Schinkel, A. M., Henggeler, S. W., & Burghen, G. A. (1992). Comparing social learning and family systems correlates of adaptation in youths with IDDM. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 17, 555-572.

Hauser, S. T., Jacobson, A. M., Lavori, P., Wolfsdorf, J. I., Herskowitz, R. D., Milley, J. E., Bliss, R., Wertlieb, D., & Stein, J. (1990). Adherence among children and adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus over a four-year longitudinal follow-up: II. Immediate and long-term linkages with the family milieu. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 15, 527-542.

Jacobson, A. M., Hauser, S. T., Wertlieb, D., Wolfsdorf, J. I., Orleans, J., & Vieyra, M. (1986). Psychological adjustment of children with recently diagnosed diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Care, 9, 323-329.

Jacobson, A. M., Hauser, S. T., Wolfsdorf, J. I., Houlihan, J., Milley, J. E., Herskowitz, R. D., Wertlieb, D., & Watt, E. (1987). Psychological predictors of compliance in children with recent onset of diabetes mellitus. Journal of Pediatrics, 108, 805-811.

Johnson, S. B., Freund, A., Silverstein, J., Hansen, C. A., & Malone, J. (1990). Adherence-health status relationships in childhood diabetes. Health Psychology, 9, 606-631.

Johnson, S. B., Silverstein, J., Rosenbloom, A., Carter, R., & Cunningham, W. (1986). Assessing daily management of childhood diabetes. Health Psychology, 5, 545-564.

Kovacs, M., Iyengar, S., Goldston, D., Obrosky, D. S., Stewart, J., & Marsh, J. (1990). Psychological functioning among mothers of children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 189-195.

La Greca, A. M. (1990). Social consequences of pediatric conditions: Fertile area for future investigation and intervention? Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 15, 285-308.

La Greca, A. M., Auslander, W. F., Greco, P., Spetter, D., Fisher, E. B., & Santiago, J. V. (1995). I get by with a little help from my family and friends: Adolescents' support for diabetes care. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 20, 449-476.

La Greca, A. M., Follansbee, D. J., & Skyler, J. S. (1990). Developmental and behavioral aspects of diabetes management in children and adolescents. Children's Health Care, 19, 132-139.

Mosbach, P., & Leventhal, H. (1988). Peer group identification and smoking: Implications for intervention. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 238-245.

Sarason, B. R., Sarason, I. G., & Pierce, G. R. (Eds.) (1990). Social support: An interactional view (pp. 64-94). New York: Wiley.

Schafer, L. C., McCaul, K. D., & Glasgow, R. E. (1986). Supportive and non-supportive family behaviors: Relationships to adherence and metabolic control in persons with Type I diabetes. Diabetes Care, 9, 179-185.

Spirito, A., DeLawyer, D. D., & Stark, L. J. (1991). Peer relations and social adjustment of chronically ill children and adolescents. Clinical Psychology Review, 11, 539-564.

Thompson, K. M., La Greca, A. M., & Shaw, K. H. (1996). Family and friend support to lower-in-come, ethnically diverse adolescents with IDDM. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Kansas Conference in Clinical Child Psychology, Lawrence, KS, October.

 

(*) Requests for reprints should be sent to: Annette M. La Greca, P. O. Box 248185, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124-0721, USA.

(**) University of Miami, USA.

Creative Commons License All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License