Family, Autonomy and Self-Care in Adolescents with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus
Dr. Carol Dashiff
Funded by National Institute of Nursing Research
About the Study: By Dr. Dashiff
Drs. Wallander, Abdullatif, Bartolucci and I are collaborating on a National Institute of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research study titled, “Family, Autonomy, and Self-Care in Adolescents with Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus” at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. We are interested in how adolescents develop responsible independence when they have a chronic illness like diabetes that demands daily monitoring and adjustment, and which can be life threatening and stressful for both the adolescent and parents. We will study how parents stimulate the development of the kind of independence that is both responsible self and still connected with others. We are also examining whether this kind of independence forms a good foundation for engaging in self-care that leads to health and the control of diabetes. Because we are following a wide age range of adolescents (11-15) for two years, we will have a good picture of how autonomy and diabetes control develops throughout the time from onset of puberty to finishing high school and how the family interacts simultaneously around issues of normal adolescent development and illness management. This makes our study unique. In addition, but no less important, we will have a subgroup of adolescents who are African-American, an underrepresented group in studies in this area, and we will learn about factors that are unique to them.
This study is significant because we will have real-life information from parents and adolescents about their perspectives, which may vary. Knowing these differences and the ways in which they influence the development of autonomy and diabetes control will help us to develop intervention strategies and materials that bridge or address these perspectives. The interventions we develop from the results of this study will not be narrowly oriented only to controlling the disease process, but will also be designed to facilitate health and development, so that the adolescent and family are treated more holistically. During adolescence, parents often yearn for help and information that will guide them in making decisions about how much independence to give the adolescent and in what areas. This study will help us develop these guidelines.
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