The impact of mothers' sense of empowerment on the metabolic control of their children with juvenile diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between mothers' sense of empowerment as a psychological resource and the level of adherence to treatment and metabolic control of their adolescent children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).


METHODS
Eighty-eight mothers filled out the Family Empowerment Scale, the Mastery Scale, the Self-Esteem Scale, and the Demographic Questionnaire. Their children with IDDM filled out the Self-Care Behaviors Questionnaire. At the same time, the level of glycohemoglobin was retrieved from their medical files.


RESULTS
Data analysis revealed that mothers' sense of empowerment contributes significantly to their children's adherence to treatment. Moreover, mothers' sense of empowerment and their education explain a significant proportion of the variance in their children's metabolic control.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support the importance of developing and enhancing the parents' sense of empowerment toward better adherence and metabolic control of their children's IDDM.
Dept. of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. florian@ashur.cc.biu.ac.il
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept