THE RELATIONSHIP OF REPORTED SELF-CARE PRACTICE, PARENTAL MOTIVATION FOR SELF-CARE, AND HEALTH LOCUS OF CONTROL WITH INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETIC CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Contributors: Kansas State University.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 78
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Diabetes mellitus, as an underlying or contributing cause, is responsible for the nation's third largest loss of life. Insulin dependent diabetes (Type I), usually beginning in childhood or adolescence, makes a substantial contribution to this problem. Management of child diabetics, like adults, incorporates the same control factors--medication, food patterning, and activity surveillance. There needs to be an almost immediate transfer of responsibilities for administration of insulin, urine and blood testing, meal planning, and other control activities from health care professionals to the diabetic child and family. These self-care behaviors enhance disease control and general well-being when accompanied by appropriate professional follow-up.

This study examined diabetic children and their families in an attempt to discover relationships and factors which may act as predictors or barriers to self-care behaviors. The conceptual framework was primarily derived from Orem's self-care concepts.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of reported self-care in insulin dependent diabetic children commensurate with parental motivation and health locus of control. Personal characteristics of age, duration of disease, family composition, and social status were also investigated.

Subjects were 90 Type I diabetic children and their mothers or surrogate mothers. Using demographic questionnaires, scales for self-care practice and parental press, and multidimensional health locus of control scales for children and adults, data were collected at a large children's diabetic clinic.

Pearson correlations, multiple regressions, and multivariate analysis were used to examine data. Findings suggest that parental motivation is a significant predictor of self-care for diabetic children. Age also showed significance.

Diabetic children demonstrated a trend toward internal health locus of control but without significant correlation to self-care. Parents showed a trend toward high internal and powerful others and low chance health locus of control dimensions. Significance was found correlating parental press and powerful others in the multidimensional scales. In correlating children and parent multidimensional health locus of control scores, significance was found in the powerful others dimension and between the child's internal and the parent's powerful others dimension.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: B, page: 3008.

Thesis (PH.D.)--KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, 1985.

School code: 0100.