Personal illness models of diabetes: Preadolescents and adolescents

The purpose of this research study was to explore personal illness models of preadolescents and adolescents regarding diabetes mellitus. Personal illness models were defined as the adolescents ’ cognitive representations of their disease. Sixty children ages 10 to 17 years with a diagnosis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus were interviewed using a semistructured questionnaire. Data were content analyzed for common themes. Although mos