[Summer camping for juvenile diabetics: effects on psychological variables (author's transl)]

The course of diabetes mellitus does not only depend on mere medical treatment. Psychological factors also play an important part. Since 1955 summer camping for diabetic children has been organized in Austria enabling juvenile diabetics to live together with a group of children sharing the same fate. This community offers the opportunity for experience to be interchanged and for knowledge about diabetes to be increased. The children's self confidence and independence is improved. In this study the changes of psychological variables during a 4 week camping period are documented. 49 children between the ages of 8-14 years were tested by a special questionnaire which registered 4 dimensions: social behavior, independency, the attitude of the children to their disease and the knowledge about it. At the end of the camping period a significant improvement in the 4 variables was found when compared to the beginning of the course. These results indicate that the institution of a diabetic camp is very important for the psychological and personal development of juvenile diabetics.