Calibrating logics: How adolescents and young adults calibrate often-competing logics in their daily self-management of type 1 diabetes

Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes must manage a demanding chronic condition in their daily lives, but adequate self-management remains a major challenge. In this article, we explore the logics invoked in shaping daily type 1 diabetes self-management among adolescents and young adults and propose an analytical view of self-management as a matter of ‘calibrating logics’. Drawing on Annemarie Mol’s concept of logic, our analysis of in-depth interviews with 21 adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes suggested that three main logics collectively shaped their self-management: biomedical, embodied and social. Biomedical logics appeared in the form of routinised insulin therapy, frequent blood glucose testing, and carbohydrate counting, all of which emphasise controlling blood glucose levels. Embodied logics emerged as refined practices such as ‘thinking insulin units’ and ‘listening’ to blood glucose fluctuations. Finally, social logics were at play when discreet or postponed self-management practices were used to adjust to social situations. While these logics may complement each other, study participants invoked how these logics often competed in daily life, generating tensions. We therefore propose viewing self-management as a matter of calibrating logics in which often-competing logics are at play. This can provide nuanced insights into the effort and challenges related to the daily self-management of type 1 diabetes for adolescents and young adults, in contrast to the prevailing dichotomy of adherence versus nonadherence to prescribed treatment regimens.