ADOLESCENTS PERCEPTIONS OF PHYSICIANS, NURSES, PARENTS AND FRIENDS - HELP OR HINDRANCE IN COMPLIANCE WITH DIABETES SELF-CARE

Although compliance with self-care amongst adolescents with diabetes i s known to be problematic, this issue has rarely been examined from th e perspective of young diabetics themselves, The purpose of the study was to explore how adolescents with diabetes perceived the actions of physicians, nurses, parents and friends in relation to compliance with self-care, Fifty-one young diabetics aged from 13 to 17 responded to a questionnaire concerning compliance and were interviewed on the topi c of compliance, Interview data were analysed by content analysis. The categories obtained were quantified and the relationship between comp liance and the actions of physicians, nurses, parents and friends anal ysed by cross-tabulation. Interviews with 51 adolescents showed that t he actions of physicians, nurses and parents described as motivating w ere associated with better compliance, Good compliance was also more e vident when parental actions were perceived as accepting, Young diabet ics whose friends offered silent support, or who viewed friends as irr elevant, were more likely to report good compliance, In contrast, phys icians' actions described as routine/negligent, disciplined control by parents, and domination by friends were linked with poor compliance.