Diabetes Case Reports

Abstract

Traumatic Experiences of Adolescents with Diabetes

Ariana Lopes

Living with a chronic illness is a stressful life event that can

lead to a set of traumatic experiences with intense and long-lasting psychosocial effects still poorly understood. Expressive writing is a particularly powerful technique in disclosing the in-depth meaning of human experiences, also creating opportunities for insight and reorganization of traumatic experiences. The present study analyzed the traumatic experiences reported by 20 adolescents with diabetes comparing to a sample of 36 adolescents with scoliosis (19 using the brace), using expressive writing paradigm. The results identified the relationship difficulties and the monitoring of therapy as the most frequent traumatic experiences. The comparison of the narratives of the three groups of adolescents also suggested that beyond traumatic experiences related to the specific type of chronic illness, crosscutting experiences may imply in a more significant way the life of adolescence with chronic illness. These results reinforce the relevance of noncategorical approaches to the understanding and intervention in the psychosocial experience of chronic illness.

Published Date: 2020-09-18;