Associations among teen-parent relationships, metabolic control, and adjustment to diabetes in adolescents.

Extended previous studies of adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) that have implicated family conflict as a correlate of poor adaptation to the disease and inadequate diabetic control. Families of 115 adolescents with IDDM completed the Parent-Adolescent Relationship Questionnaire (PARQ) and the Teen Adjustment to Diabetes Scale (TADS) and recent glycohemoglobin levels were retrieved from medical records for 82 patients. PARQ scores of families of adolescents with IDDM were similar to those of a healthy normative group. Multiple regression analysis showed that a PARQ scale measuring family communication and conflict resolution skills was a strong predictor of the IDDM outcome variables, suggesting that these families could derive health and behavioral benefits from an intervention that improves parent-adolescent communication skills. Controlled trials of such interventions are needed.