ASSESSING AND OVERCOMING SITUATIONAL OBSTACLES TO DIETARY ADHERENCE IN ADOLESCENTS WITH IDDM

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a tool for assessing selected aspects of dietary adherence in adolescents with diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Me thods: The Situational Obstacles to Dietary Adherence Questionnaire (S ODA) is a 30-item inventory that yields a total self-efficacy score an d scales that measure cognitive and behavioral coping strategies. Alte rnative forms of the SODA were administered at the beginning and end o f a summer camp for youngsters with IDDM in order to obtain evidence f or its reliability and validity, and to evaluate the impact of an educ ational intervention. The program consisted of two 50-minute small gro up sessions intended to help adolescents with IDDM improve their abili ty to cope with challenging dietary situations. Using the method of an chored instruction, the campers first viewed a video about a teenager with diabetes who faces common situations that make diabetes self-mana gement difficult. Group problem-solving sessions led by a registered d ietitian were used to help campers learn more effective ways to solve dietary problems. Results and conclusions: Results suggested that the SODA has reasonable reliability and validity. In addition, anchored in struction improved dietary self-efficacy and changed young adolescents ' estimates of how often they would use selected cognitive and behavio ral strategies to solve dietary problems.