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Reactions to Health-Related Social Control in Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

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Abstract

Health-related social control refers to individuals’ attempts to influence another’s health behavior. We describe social control experienced by 109 adults aged 18–35 with Type 1 diabetes, and examine the influence of different types of social control on behavioral and psychological outcomes. Using a self-administered questionnaire, telephone interview, and chart review, we assessed individuals’ social control experiences, behavioral and psychological reactions, psychological adjustment, metabolic control, socio-demographics, and clinical factors at baseline, and psychological adjustment and metabolic control at 6-months follow-up. Most participants (85%) reported experiencing social control. Regression analyses revealed that more frequent negative control predicted less behavior change and more negative cognitive reactions concurrently, and decreases in psychological adjustment over time. More frequent reinforcement/modeling and structural changes predicted more positive emotional reactions, but were not associated with behavior change, psychological adjustment, or metabolic control. Use of direct persuasion was associated with more pretending of behavior change. These results suggest that negative social control attempts by social network members may be counter-productive.

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Acknowledgements

Data collection was supported by a grant to Dr. Lewis from the Council on Research and Creative Work from the University of Colorado – Boulder. Dr. Thorpe was supported by the William N. Reynolds Fellowship through the University of North Carolina Graduate School and a post-doctoral fellowship from the Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affairs. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Sterba was supported by a Postdoctoral Fellowship (Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, University of Texas-Houston School of Public Health–National Cancer Institute/NIH Grant #2R25CA57712). We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewer who insightfully suggested additional factor analyses on the social control measures, which we feel added substantially to the value of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 2424 Erwin Road, Hock Plaza, Suite 1105, P.O. Box 2720, Durham, NC, 27705, USA

    Carolyn T. Thorpe

  2. RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    Megan A. Lewis

  3. School of Public Health, University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA

    Katherine R. Sterba

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  1. Carolyn T. Thorpe
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  2. Megan A. Lewis
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  3. Katherine R. Sterba
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Correspondence to Carolyn T. Thorpe.

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Thorpe, C.T., Lewis, M.A. & Sterba, K.R. Reactions to Health-Related Social Control in Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes. J Behav Med 31, 93–103 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9125-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9125-4

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