Declining metabolic control and decreasing parental support among families with adolescents with diabetes: The risk of restrictiveness

Abstract

Background For children with diabetes, metabolic control typically declines across the adolescent years. Objective The longitudinal interplay between supportive relationships with parents and metabolic control were investigated in families that differ in parents' restrictiveness. Method The time-dependent links between perceived parental social support and metabolic control were investigated in a sample of 109 German adolescents with diabetes. 3 waves of data were collected at annual intervals; metabolic control (indexed by HbA1c) was assayed by physicians annually. Results Family restrictiveness moderated longitudinal associations between metabolic control and perceived social support. For adolescents reporting high family restrictiveness, poorer initial metabolic control predicted greater subsequent declines in perceived parent social support, and lower initial perceived parental social support predicted greater subsequent deterioration in metabolic control. Conclusion The findings add to the growing body of work suggesting that restrictiveness is a risk factor that exacerbates problems associated with low perceived parental support. © 2013 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved.