Adolescent views of diabetes-related parent conflict and support: a focus group analysis.
OBJECTIVE
To increase understanding of adolescent-parent diabetes-related conflicts and supports in the management of type 1 diabetes by means of a focus group research approach.


METHODS
Twenty-four adolescents (10 boys and 14 girls, age 13-15 years; 97% white) participated in three same-sex focus groups at two diabetes summer camps. The focus group leader used a prepared set of open-ended questions to guide the 90-minute sessions. Sessions were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by a set procedure for qualitative analysis to identify the adolescents' perspectives on parent-adolescent sources of diabetes-related conflict and support.


RESULTS
Adolescents reported the following sources of diabetes-related conflict: parental worry and intrusive behaviors; parental lack of understanding and blaming behaviors, and the parents focus on the future vs. the adolescent focus on the present. With regard to diabetes-related support, the teens identified parental understanding of the demands of diabetes and parental provision of reassurance about their child's illness and normative functioning.


CONCLUSIONS
Adolescents' perceptions of parental worry, lack of understanding, and resulting intrusive and blaming behaviors are major areas of conflict that need to be addressed in the management of type 1 diabetes.
Weinger
K
K
Department of Behavioral & Mental Health, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. katie.weinger@joslin.harvard.edu
O'Donnell
K A
KA
Ritholz
M D
MD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups / Q000379:methods*; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011340:Problem Solving; D011788:Quality of Life; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013315:Stress, Psychological