FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND THE INTERRELATION OF FAMILY-STRUCTURE, CHILD-BEHAVIOR, AND METABOLIC CONTROL FOR CHILDREN WITH DIABETES

Examined perceptions of the family environment in a cross-regional sam ple of 90 families who had children with diabetes and 89 controls. Fam ilies were classified as either traditional (intact) or nontraditional (single-parent or blended families). Parents of children with diabete s reported less family expressiveness, which was a predictor of clinic ally higher levels of child behavior problems than controls. Parents i n nontraditional families reported lower levels of organization, less emphasis on active-recreational pursuits, and more child behavior prob lems than traditional families. An additive effect of diabetes and non traditional family structure was found for children with diabetes from nontraditional families, who reported substantially less cohesion tha n all other groups. Nontraditional family structure was more disruptiv e for children with diabetes than for controls; it was the best predic tor of behavior problems and was related to poorer metabolic control.