A Comparison of Aggression and Self-injury Among Type 1 Diabetic and Healthy Adolescents: A Sample From Turkey

Abstract

BackgroundAdolescents tend to have risky behaviors like aggression and self-injury due to the age period characteristics. The risk of aggression and self-injury may increase in adolescents with the addition of chronic diseases. ObjectivesThis study was conducted descriptively to determine and compare the aggression and self-injury in those with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and healthy counterparts. MethodsThe study sample consisted of 60 adolescents with T1DM followed up in the child endocrinology polyclinic of a university hospital and 319 healthy counterparts, 15–18 aged, at 9th–12th grade at high school. In the study, the permission of the institution, Ethical Committee, the parent and adolescent consent, the data were collected using a questionnaire form, Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) and Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS). The descriptive statistics, Shapiro-Wilk, Mann-Whitney U, Student t, Chi-square, Spearman correlation tests were used for analyzing data. ResultsThe mean scores of AQ all subscales and the total scale of healthy adolescents were higher than adolescents with T1DM (p<0.05). Mean ISAS scores of adolescents with T1DM were higher than the healthy ones (p>0.05). The mean scores of autonomic function, social function and ISAS were positively moderately correlated with the mean scores of total aggression in both healthy and diabetic adolescents (p<0.05). ConclusionsConsidering the age period characteristics, training about anger-stress management and effective communication skill to adolescents and their parents may be recommended by health professionals.