Parental Determinants in Childhood Diabetes Prevention and Management: A Scoping Review Examining Impacts and...

Family-focused diabetes management research has typically followed a linear model, viewing parental cognition about diabetes as the main factor shaping a child's adjustment and metabolic control. This scoping review synthesized the research examining the influence of parental cognition factors on preventive behaviors toward diabetic children. A comprehensive search of PubMed, ProQuest, and EBSCOhost databases between 2013 and 2023 yielded 1225 articles on parental factors covering knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and understanding. After de-duplication and independent screening of titles and abstracts per predefined eligibility criteria, seven studies (six quantitative, one qualitative) were included in the analysis. Narrative synthesis showed that facilitating factors for prevention included knowledgeable parents with positive risk perceptions, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. Hindering barriers were deficiencies in parental diabetes understanding, socioeconomic disadvantages, and lack of targeted family interventions. In-depth literature analysis identified parental education level, and comprehension of diabetes risk, alongside financial constraints, as significant predictors of suboptimal management practices. Hence, this scoping review suggests developing evidence-based, multi-stakeholder initiatives optimizing identified cognitive barriers while empowering families through culturally sensitive education and sources of support for curtailing escalating children's diabetes trends.