Objective: To examine mediating processes linking parental involvement to diabetes management (adherence and metabolic control) during adolescence.
Methods: A total of 252 young adolescents (M age = 12.49 years, SD = 1.53, 53.6% females) with type 1 diabetes reported their parents' involvement in diabetes management (relationship quality, monitoring, and behavioral involvement), their own externalizing and internalizing behaviors, diabetes-self efficacy, and adherence behaviors. HbA1c was drawn from medical records.
Results: SEM analyses indicated that the associations of mothers' and fathers' relationship quality with diabetes outcomes were mediated by adolescents' perceptions of self-efficacy and externalizing behaviors, and the associations of fathers' monitoring and behavioral involvement with adherence were partially mediated by adolescents' self-efficacy. There were also direct (non-mediated) associations between mothers' monitoring and adherence, and fathers' monitoring and adherence and metabolic control.
Conclusions: Quality of the parent-adolescent relationship and monitoring are important for better adherence and metabolic control among adolescents through higher diabetes self-efficacy.