The role of familial emotional stress has been recognized as a significant factor in the life of children with diabetes. The Kinetic-Family-Drawing was used to study 52 children with diabetes, as a projective technique to delineate environmental factors. An equal number of K-F-Ds of otherwise normal children were matched to the experimental group by age, sex, and race. The children with diabetes showed more examples of isolation in their drawings, and this finding correlated with examples of aggression. These findings suggest important dynamics that may exist in the family that has a child with diabetes.
The authors would like to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance of the directors and administration of the Central Ohio Diabetes Association, Mrs. Albert Sayed, and Donald Smeltzer. This research was supported in part by the Samuel J. Roessler Memorial Fund.