Management of Type 1 Diabetes Among Adolescents

Developmental Influences on Management of Type I Diabetes

This 1-year study will explore the influences of family and peers on how diabetic adolescents manage their disease, focusing on adolescent developmental transitions. The management of diabetes is a complex process involving daily self-care activities, problem-solving, and decision-making. It is particularly challenging during adolescence when youth are experiencing physiological, social and psychological changes, and coming under increasing peer influence and decreasing parental supervision. Although it is expected that the responsibility for diabetes management will gradually shift from the parent to the child during adolescence, research indicates that many children may be given responsibility for managing their illness too early, without adequate parental monitoring. Specifically, this study will examine the following issues:

• The relationship of peers, parents and school support to successful diabetes management;
• The influence of the adolescent's self-image and personal goals on diabetes management;
• The influence of the adolescent's and parents' attitudes, capability and environment on the balance of responsibility for diabetes management.

Children between 10 and 16 years of age receiving treatment for diabetes type 1 at Georgetown University Medical Center's pediatric diabetes clinic may be eligible for this study. The children must have been diagnosed with diabetes at least 1 year before entering the study and must require insulin treatment. One parent of each child will also participate in the study.

Children and their parents will complete the following procedures:

Home Interviews: Parents and children will complete two at-home face-to-face interviews 6 months apart. At each interview, children will answer questions about their responsibility for and adherence to their diabetes management, treatment outcome expectations, optimism, self-esteem, self-consciousness, personal goals, social support, perceived barriers to diabetes management, family routine and family conflict, their parents' involvement in their diabetes management, and parenting style. Parents will evaluate their child's ability to manage his or her diabetes, level of maturity, self-esteem, and transition of responsibility; their family routine and family conflict, parent-child communication, their parenting goals, and their involvement in and responsibility for their child's diabetes management. Three days after the 6-month interview, a randomly selected group of parents and children will complete a brief, additional telephone interview covering some of the same issues.

Telephone Interview: At 12 months, parents and children will complete a telephone interview that will include questions about adherence to diabetes management and the responsibility of parents and children for diabetes management.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Type I Diabetes

Detailed Description

Management of diabetes is a complex process involving the conduct of daily self-care activities, problem-solving, and decision-making. It is particularly challenging during adolescence when youth are experiencing a variety of physiological, social, and psychological changes at the same time that they are taking increased responsibility for their own diabetes care. This study examines the influence of family, social, and adolescent developmental transitions. Over the course of 12 months, a sample of 135 parent-child dyads will provide information on individual efficacy, maturity, family and social support, attitudes toward diabetes management, and diabetes management behaviors. One goal of this pilot study is to identify factors that predict the adherence of individual youth and parents during this transition period.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment: 240

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Bethesda, Maryland, United States, 20892
      • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 7 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

• INCLUSION/EXCLUSION CRITERIA:

Subjects for this study will include 135 male and female youth with diabetes age 10-16 and a parent.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Anderson B, Ho J, Brackett J, Finkelstein D, Laffel L. Parental involvement in diabetes management tasks: relationships to blood glucose monitoring adherence and metabolic control in young adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Pediatr. 1997 Feb;130(2):257-65. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(97)70352-4.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 28, 2003
• Primary Completion: December 7, 2022
• Study Completion: November 2, 2006

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 19, 2006
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 19, 2006
• First Posted (Estimate): June 21, 2006

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 2, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 30, 2017
• Last Verified: November 2, 2006

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Adolescent; Adherence; Family; Chronic Illness; Self-Regulation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Glucose Metabolism Disorders; Metabolic Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Autoimmune Diseases; Endocrine System Diseases; Diabetes Mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1
• Other Study ID Numbers: 999903088; 03-CH-N088

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No