Psychologic predictors of compliance in children with recent onset of diabetes mellitus.

A group of 57 children with recent onset of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus was studied over 18 months. Compliance with the prescribed diabetic treatment deteriorated over this period. Adolescents (aged 13 to 15 years) were less compliant than preadolescents (aged 9 to 12 years). Initial patient reports of self-esteem, perceived competence, social functioning, behavioral symptoms, and their adjustment to diabetes predicted subsequent compliance behaviors. The findings highlight the linkage of child personality and adjustment with self-care of diabetes, and suggest that psychosocial assessment soon after diabetes is diagnosed may help identify patients at risk for later compliance problems.