Developing conceptions of chronic disease: a comparison of disease experience.

We predicted that children's conceptions of various self-care behaviors and social relations would be related to their degree of experience with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). A total of 55 children were recruited for this study in three experience groups: children with IDDM (high experience), children having a sibling with IDDM (low experience), and normal healthy children (no experience). In line with our model, children with IDDM had a more developed and sophisticated understanding of concepts associated with disease management than did either siblings of children with diabetes or the comparison group; surprisingly, experience with the disease (children with IDDM) was associated with more complex conceptions of social relations as well.