UNDERSTANDING YOUNG CHILDRENS HEALTH BELIEFS AND DIABETES REGIMEN ADHERENCE

Previous studies of chronic illness management in children have focuse d mainly on parents' health beliefs. However, children's health belief s also can be an important factor in predicting adherence. Indeed, chi ldren 6 to 10 years old spend most waking hours away from home, are un der less parental supervision, and are becoming more responsible for t heir own care. The purpose of this study was to develop a pictorial, m ulti-item instrument to measure dimensions of the Health Belief Model (HBM) and self-efficacy (SE), designed specifically for children with diabetes, thus making it possible to examine both the parent's and chi ld's health beliefs; to explore the relationship between their beliefs ; and to examine the extent to which these beliefs are predictors of a dherence and metabolic control.