[Stages of grief in coping with diabetes?]

Forms of coping with diabetes were determined on the basis of self-ratings of emotions (depressive, sad, angry, anxious) and responses on a 30-item "stages of grief" questionnaire by 52 inpatients aged between 25 and 50 (diabetes duration 1 to 35 years) at the beginning of a 12 day diabetes education program. Psychometric qualities of the instruments were evaluated. To test empirically the notion of grief stages in coping with diabetes, the frequency of emphasis on one or more emotional areas or stages of grief was determined and tested to ascertain whether various conditions occurred more frequently than was expected by chance. Results indicated that shortly after diabetes manifestation scores on protest and depression with respect to diabetes were elevated. The majority of cases could not be assigned to a single emotion or stage of grief but displayed negative emotional reactions in different content areas simultaneously. Consequently the concept of grief stages for coping with diabetes as well as recommendations based on this concept are questioned.