Legacy of diabetes and self-care behavior

The effect of multigenerational legacies of diabetes on health beliefs and behaviors was explored. Diabetic participants (N=123) with family histories of diabetes responded to survey questions about their own diabetes self-care behavior, illness representation (including consequences and controllability of diabetes), recollection of a family member's illness representation and complications, and perceived social consequences of diabetes. Recollections about family members' disease controllability (r=.21, p<.05) and social consequences (r=-.19, P<.05) and participants, own perceptions of controllability were significantly related. Significant associations were also found between perceptions of controllability and general and social consequences with medication adherence (beta=-.33, beta=-36, and beta=-.43, respectively, all p<.05). Findings suggest that explorations of patients' recollections of a family member's experiences with diabetes can affect their illness perceptions and behavior. (C) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.