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Psychosocial Factors and the Onset of Type 1 Diabetes
Author(s) -
Robinson N.,
Lloyd C. E.,
Fuller J. H.,
Yateman N. A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-5491.1989.tb01139.x
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , diabetes mellitus , social support , type 1 diabetes , type 2 diabetes , social stress , disease , gerontology , clinical psychology , demography , endocrinology , psychiatry , psychology , social psychology , sociology
Stress has been proposed as a possible precipitating factor for the development of Type 1 diabetes in genetically susceptible individuals. A validated in‐depth psychometric instrument (The Life Events and Difficulties Schedule) was used to investigate the role of psychosocial factors in the onset of Type 1 diabetes in islet cell antibody (ICA)‐positive family members. Families with ICA‐positive members had higher scores for subject focused severe life events in the 5‐year period prior to the diagnosis of diabetes in a second family member compared with matched control families (1.50 ± 0.68 (± SD) vs 0.32 ± 0.37; p < 0.03). In the same time period, these families also experienced a higher mean number of severe long‐term difficulties compared with control families (1.34 ± 0.52 vs 0.14 ± 0.17; p < 0.01). Scores for current total visual social contacts were greater for control families compared with case family members (12.10 ± 1.90 vs 9.64 ± 2.70; p < 0.05). These results suggest that global family stress possibly in conjunction with a reduced number of social contacts may act as a trigger for the development of diabetes in a second family member and that social support may act as a buffer to stress and disease onset.