Illness-specifi c risk-taking in adolescence: A missing piece of the nonadherence puzzle for youth with type 1 diabetes?

Abstract

Risky behavior is often at its lifetime peak in adolescence. Chronic illness creates additional opportunities for risk because nonadherence behaviors can jeopardize adolescents' health. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes could engage in risky behavior around insulin administration that would put them in danger of severe health consequences. It is possible that some nonadherence behaviors observed in adolescents with type 1 diabetes may result from youth taking risks with their medical treatment. Illness-specifi c risk-taking behaviors are not captured in most assessments of adherence, which primarily focus on frequency of adherence behaviors. Th is article reviews current models of general risktaking and their implications for diabetes management. Th e authors argue that illness-specifi c risk-taking may be an important, understudied aspect of illness management that can inform future studies and treatment of nonadherence in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.