[Body image in adolescence: a comparative study of healthy and chronically ill adolescents]

The following study analyzes the preliminary data obtained during a 4 year longitudinal study of 108 diabetic and 107 healthy youths. It was investigated whether chronically ill youths have a more negative body image of themselves than do healthy ones. Further it was studied whether the objective degree of maturity and the quality of the metabolic adjustment of the disease influenced the physical self image of the chronically ill youths. Diabetics were found to view their body as less efficient, underdeveloped and sexually less differentiated, for example. Menarche and pollarche were also viewed negatively. Poor metabolic control of the disease was accompanied by an especially poor physical self image of these young people. Sex related differences in the self image of youths were found only in the control group. Differences in sex are evidently neutralized by the factor disease.