Association between diabetes treatment adherence and parent-child agreement regarding treatment responsibilities

When primary responsibility for Type 1 diabetes (DM1) treatment adherence transfers from parents to adolescents, glycemic control often suffers. Low rates of treatment adherence during this transition are possibly attributable to decreased parental involvement, disagreements between parents and children regarding treatment responsibilities, and increased family conflict. The current investigation assessed the relationships between each of these variables and glycemic control among youth diagnosed with DM1. Parent and child report questionnaires were completed by 64 parent-child dyads (ages 8-18) with a child diagnosed with DM1. HbA1c readings served as measures of glycemic control. Parental involvement in their children's treatment was reported to decline with age, however absolute levels of parent involvement were not significantly correlated with youth HbA1c levels. Parent-child agreement regarding treatment responsibility and reports of diabetes-related conflict were significant predictors of glycemic control. Results support previous findings implicating parent-child agreement regarding treatment responsibilities and family conflict as predictors of treatment adherence among youth with DM1. The current study found this relationship to be significant for a larger population of children for which past research has failed to find such an effect. Taken together, these findings suggest further research is warranted to identify effective methods for transferring treatment responsibilities from parents to children.