Experimentally-induced learned helplessness in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether adolescents with type 1 diabetes are more at risk for learned helplessness than their healthy peers.


METHODS
Twenty-three adolescents with diabetes and 25 controls completed a solvable or unsolvable concept formation task. All completed pre- and post-task performance and attribution ratings, and later completed an anagram-solving task to determine if perceived helplessness on the first task would negatively impact performance on the second.


RESULTS
Participants in the unsolvable condition solved fewer anagrams; those with diabetes did not show weaker performance than controls. Participants in the solvable condition (diabetes and controls) showed an increase in internal attributions from before the concept formation task to after. In the unsolvable condition, only participants with diabetes made more external attributions for their failure.


CONCLUSIONS
Contrary to the only other controlled study to use this paradigm in youth with chronic illness, adolescents with diabetes were not more susceptible to learned helplessness.
McLaughlin
Elizabeth
E
IWK Health Centre, 5850/5980 University Avenue, P.O. Box 9700, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 6R8. Elizabeth.McLaughlin@iwk.nshealth.ca
Lefaivre
Marie-josée
MJ
Cummings
Elizabeth
E
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006380:Helplessness, Learned; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D012649:Self Concept; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis