Reasons for the overly optimistic beliefs of parents of children with diabetes.
AIMS
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.


CONCLUSION
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.
['Freckleton|Evril|E|', 'Sharpe|Louise|L|', 'Mullan|Barbara|B|']
D001315:Australia D001786:Blood Glucose 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 D036301:Qualitative Research D012044:Regression Analysis D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
belief diabetes future-directed thinking