Brief report: Nature and implications of personal projects among adolescents with and without diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the relation of adolescent goals to psychological well-being and diabetes health.

METHOD: We used personal project analysis to elicit the goals that adolescents with (n = 110) and without type 1 diabetes (n = 117) have. Adolescents evaluated several project dimensions (progress, stress, typicality, happiness, extent desired by others). Psychological well-being and diabetes health were assessed.

RESULTS: Adolescents with and without diabetes described similar projects, with academic projects being most frequently named. Adolescents with diabetes were more likely to identify appearance projects, and healthy adolescents were more likely to identify self-improvement projects. Among the project dimensions, project progress was associated with better psychological and diabetes health, and project stress was associated with poorer psychological and diabetes health.

CONCLUSION: Results suggest that aspects of the general goals that adolescents set for themselves may have implications for their psychological well-being as well as how they care for their diabetes.