Psychosocial factors related to substance use among adolescents with Type I diabetes

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the psychosocial factors related to adolescent substance use among adolescents with Type I diabetes. The psychosocial factors which were investigated include parent-adolescent communication (measured by the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale; Barnes & Olson, 1982), quality of life (measured by the Diabetes Quality of Life Scale for Youth; Ingersoll & Marrero, 1991), and depression (measured by the Beck Depression Inventory-II; Beck, Ward, Medelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961) as they relate to substance use (measured by the Substance Use Questionnaire) among adolescents with Type I diabetes.; Eighty-one adolescents with Type I diabetes participated in this study. Findings revealed that adolescents with Type I diabetes report using tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit substances less than is typically found in the general adolescent population. Adolescents in this sample reported less open communication with both mother and father than existing norms for that age group. Adolescents who ever used illicit substances scored higher on the BDI-II than adolescents who never used illicit substances. Less than 50% of the adolescents in this sample initiated communication about their substance use with their health care professionals. Adolescents who reported less open communication with their fathers reported higher levels of worries about their disease. Similarly, adolescents who reported less open communication with their fathers reported a greater felt impact of their disease. Finally, adolescents who reported more open communication with their mothers also reported a greater satisfaction with life considering their disease. Females reported higher satisfaction with life than males, and females reported being diagnosed with Type I diabetes at an earlier age than males.; The implications of these findings were discussed, particularly as they related to adolescent substance use. Those adolescents who had greater protective factors, i.e. family relationships (in general, and as related to ethnicity), greater isolation from peer relationships, and greater compliance with healthcare and health maintenance, were less likely to report substance use. It was not altogether clear what the exact risk factors for adolescent substance use were among this sample of adolescents. Future studies could explore larger populations to identify the exact risks that relate to greater substance use among adolescents with diabetes. Meanwhile it is important for parents, health care professionals, and other members of the community that interact with and provide services for adolescents with Type I diabetes to be aware that these teens are not immune to substance use, they are not initiating telling others about their substance use, and report that more than half of the time they tell their health care professionals about their substance use when asked.