How do parents perceive their adolescent's diabetes: a qualitative study

Background/aims The developmental tasks of adolescence, combined with physical changes, can interfere with self-management behaviour. Yet little is known about how parents view these challenges as they attempt to help their children cope with diabetes. Our objective was to understand how living with an adolescent with diabetes influences parents' perceptions of their child's well-being, their relationship with their child, and how they perceive the influence of peers and school on their child's diabetes. Methods Twenty-eight parents of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, aged 13-18 years, participated in focus groups. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative methods to determine dominant themes and incidence density. Results Themes included how diabetes negatively influences their adolescent's lifestyle, how diabetes makes it difficult for parents to understand developmental challenges experienced by their child, concerns regarding the potential to develop long-term complications, perceptions on how diabetes impacts on their relationship with their child and relationships with peers and how their children's school impacts on their diabetes self-management Conclusions This qualitative focus group study provides insight into parental perceptions of adolescents living with Type 1 diabetes, specifically as it relates to lifestyle implications, relationships with parents, peers and physicians, and school experiences.