Longitudinal associations of diabetes-specific family conflict and diabetes management in adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Introduction: Diabetes-specific family conflict is a risk factor for diabetes indicators (e.g., higher hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), lower adherence), but little longitudinal data are available to understand associations across time. To better inform targets and timing of interventions, we examined (a) whether fluctuations in conflict covary with diabetes indicators within adolescents across time; (b) whether reciprocal associations exist; and (c) whether aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship (e.g., parental acceptance) buffer associations across time.

Method: Adolescents (N = 235, ages 11.5-15.5 at baseline, 53.6% female) completed measures of diabetes-related conflict with mothers and with fathers (separately), parental acceptance, and adherence every 6 months across 1 year (three time points). HbA1c was obtained from medical records. Data were collected in 2009.

Results: Bivariate between-person correlations indicated that at each time point, adolescents who reported more conflict with mothers and fathers also had higher HbA1c and lower adherence. Within-person correlations (fluctuations across three time points) indicated that fluctuations in conflict with mothers were associated with fluctuations in HbA1c but not adherence. Actor-partner multilevel models indicated that fluctuations in family conflict at each time point were not associated with future diabetes indicators. Parental acceptance did not moderate associations of family conflict and diabetes indicators.

Discussion: While findings corroborate extant literature noting that adolescents with high average diabetes-specific family conflict may benefit from interventions designed to reduce conflict, conflict at one time point may not be predictive of future diabetes indicators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).