title: Reasons for the overly optimistic beliefs of parents of children with diabetes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of this study are to investigate parents' beliefs about the likelihood of diabetes outcomes for their child, the reasons that they give for these beliefs and the relationship between the beliefs and parental psychopathology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-one mothers of children with diabetes completed a questionnaire about the likelihood of certain diabetes outcomes and measures of psychopathology. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected at a single time point.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mothers generally held very optimistic views about their children's future, and this was associated with less maternal depressive symptoms. Mothers typically used their previous experiences and belief that diabetes is controllable to justify optimistic beliefs about short-term consequences. In contrast, formation of mothers' views on long-term consequences generally relied on information from a variety of sources.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that it is usual and helpful for mothers of children with diabetes to hold overly optimistic views about their children's futures. Medical evidence appears to have little influence on mothers' beliefs about likely outcomes for their children.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Evril
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Freckleton
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sharpe
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mullan
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose
keywords: belief; diabetes; future-directed thinking