The Diabetes Family Behavior Checklist (DFBC) was administered to 54 adults and 18 adolescents (less than 19 yr of age) with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Subjects and family members completed parallel forms of the DFBC at initial and 6-mo follow-up home interviews. During each of these periods, adherence was assessed via self-report, 1 wk of self-monitoring, and 24-h dietary recalls. The results showed reliable differences between adolescents and adults. More negative interactions with family members were reported by adolescents and their family members, and adolescents were in poorer metabolic control. For adults but not adolescents, negative DFBC scores were prospectively predictive of poorer regimen adherence over the 6-mo interval for measures of glucose testing, insulin injection, and dietary adherence. In addition, higher negative DFBC scores for adults were marginally associated with higher HbA1 levels (P less than 0.10). We conclude that the DFBC is a promising measure of family interaction related specifically to the IDDM regimen and that, for adults, higher levels of nonsupportive family behaviors may be related to reduced regimen adherence and poor control.
Thirty-four adolescents (ages 12-14 yr) with IDDM completed a questionnaire assessing regimen adherence over the previous week and psychosocial measures potentially related to adherence. Four aspects of the IDDM regimen were studied: insulin injections, dietary patterns, glucose testing, and exercise. Psychosocial variables included (1) Social Learning Theory measures of diabetes-specific family behaviors and barriers to adherence and (2) more general measures of family interaction. Glycosylated hemoglobin levels were predicted accurately (R = 0.68) from a combination of three adherence measures. The psychosocial measures were not directly related to metabolic control, but they were associated with adherence. Degree of adherence to one aspect of the IDDM regimen was not related to adherence to other aspects of the regimen and different psychosocial variables predicted adherence to different regimen components. The diabetes-specific measures were generally more predictive of adherence than were the more global measures. Implications and limitations of this cross-sectional, correlational study were discussed.
The present study was designed to assess the frequency of different barriers to adherence among persons with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and to determine the relationship between such barriers and adherence to insulin injection, glucose testing, and dietary and exercise components of the regimen. The behavior analytic model was used to develop a Barriers to Adherence Scale for adults and adolescents with IDDM. Sixty-five outpatient subjects were then interviewed in their home and reassessed 6 months later. Subjects reported the greatest number of barriers to dietary and exercise adherence and the fewest barriers to insulin injections. Females reported more barriers than males, but age was not associated with barriers scores. Self-report measures of adherence revealed consistent relationships between barriers and all areas of regimen adherence assessed. Adherence indices based on self-monitoring and dietary recall data correlated less consistently with barriers scores. We conclude that the behavior analytic model has great potential for use in the development of psychosocial assessment procedures for diabetes.
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