ABSTRACT
In this chapter we trace how the onset of a significant chronic illness in adolescence touches individual development and emotional adjustment. Adolescents have diverse responses to the advent of this new, largely unexpected illness that pervades many facets of their lives, within their families and among their peers. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic illness that involves the diagnosed patient and his or her family life. The complex interplay of medical, developmental; and social forces is especially apparent when the patient is
a child or adolescent. Our studies examine how individual and family dimensions intersect with the onset and clinical course of diabetes in preadolescent and adolescent patients (Hauser et al., 1989, 1990; Hauser, Jacobson, Wertlieb, Brink, & Wentworth, 1985; Hauser et al., 1979; Hauser, Powers, Jacobson, Schwartz, & Noam, 1982; Wertlieb, Hauser, & Jacobson, 1985). An important individual dimension is ego development, a line of socioemotional development associated with numerous aspects of adaptation in children and adults (Browning, 1986; Frank & Quinlin, 1976; Hauser et al., 1984; Noam et al., 1984; Rosnafsky, 1981).
