Psychological and Physiological Responses to Acute Laboratory Stressors in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus Adolescents and Nondiabetic Controls

Abstract

Thirty 11- to 18-year old adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) of at least 1-year duration and 15 nondiabetic controls were subjected to three laboratory stressors: a venipuncture and two public-speaking tasks. Half of the IDDM participants were in good metabolic control prior to the inception of the experiment and half were in poor control. The IDDM adolescents in poor control and the nondiabetics were matched to the well-controlled IDDM group on the basis of age, sex, and race. The two IDDM groups were also matched on disease duration. Self-report, behavioral, and physiological measures of anxiety or arousal were monitored during the stress.