Crisis intervention program in newly diagnosed diabetic children.

A group of 223 insulin-dependent diabetic patients, aged 7-24 yr, who had been under the regular care of our clinic up to 15 yr, were rated by two independent judges on a two-level scale of adjustment and maladjustment. The patients were divided into two groups. Group A (N = 107) comprised those who had been under care from diagnosis of the disease and had been subjected to the special crisis intervention program offered to every family upon referral of a newly diagnosed patient. Group B (N = 116) comprised patients who were diagnosed and treated initially in a clinic that had no crisis intervention program. Significant differences between the two groups were found in respect to three of the four aspects studied, i.e., compliance, familial relationships, and sociability, with group A showing a better adjustment than group B. There was no significant difference in the fourth aspect studied, i.e., school achievement and work performance. It was found that it took three times the effort, i.e., the time invested in counseling and psychotherapeutic measures, to bring group B to a good level of adjustment than it did to achieve similar results with group A. It is suggested that the initial period after diagnosis of diabetes in a child should be considered a period of crisis, requiring special multidisciplinary services to reduce future psychosocial maladjustments and improve compliance.