Illness Identity in Type 1 Diabetes: A Nine-Year Longitudinal Perspective in Belgian Youth.

This study offers a unique long-term perspective on the development of illness identity in young individuals with type 1 diabetes and examines how this process relates to their psychological and diabetes management outcomes over time. From a seven-wave longitudinal study, spanning 9 years, data was used from 403 Dutch-speaking adolescents and emerging adults with type 1 diabetes (ages 14-25 years at baseline). The group-level development of illness identity was examined using multivariate latent growth curve modeling, and distinct developmental trajectory classes of illness identity wer