Coping and social support of parents with a diabetic child

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to describe and understand the parental coping and the social support received by the parents of diabetic children. The parental coping process was followed for a 4-week period after the diagnosis of diabetes. The parents of two girls, whose diabetes was diagnosed in early childhood, served as study subjects. Data were collected by interviewing and observing the parents over four separate periods. The data were analyzed by the time series and content analysis methods. Six phases of parental coping were identified: disbelief, lack of information and guilt, learning to care, normalization, uncertainty and reorganization. In the different phases of parental coping, the parents' experience of stress, coping strategies and sense of control varied. In the phase of disbelief, the parents tried to reject the child's diabetes by questioning the diagnosis. The initial information given to the parents regarding their child's diabetes proved to be important for parental coping. In the phase of lack of information and guilt, the parents sought reasons for their child's diabetes and felt guilty about it. As coping responses, the parents sought support from each other and from people who had experienced the same. In the learning to care phase, they recognized the demands caused by diabetes and took responsibility for the child's care. The parents appreciated supervision based on their problems. In the normalization phase, the parents prepared to return home with the diabetic child. Getting back to normal life was one of the most effective parental coping responses. In the uncertainty phase, the care to be given to the diabetic child changed the daily routines of the family. In the reorganization phase, the parents adapted to the diagnosis of diabetes and to the care of their diabetic child. The parents felt that the life of the family normalized and was able to be controlled.