Internalizing Symptoms and Treatment Adherence among Pediatric Endocrinology Patients
Abstract
Prior research in behavioral medicine has focused heavily on the incidence and impact of depression among medical patients, but results have been equivocal; anxiety has received considerably less attention in the research. The current study examined the rate of depression and anxiety symptoms among pediatric type 1 diabetes patients and growth failure patients both on- and off-treatment; rates of internalizing symptoms among parents were also measured. The impact of these psychological symptoms on both direct and indirect measures of treatment adherence was then evaluated. Results revealed that neither patients nor parents face a greater risk of depression. Relative to growth patients and norms, diabetic patients experience more anxiety and their parents experience greater distress, and parental distress significantly predicted appointment attendance. Findings highlight the importance of attending to the increased risk of anxiety faced by patients with life-threatening illnesses and the implications of this anxiety for medical prognosis.
Subject Area
Psychology|Clinical psychology
Recommended Citation
Parbhakar, Meera, "Internalizing Symptoms and Treatment Adherence among Pediatric Endocrinology Patients" (2017). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI10259734.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI10259734
