More hassle, more alone: adolescents with diabetes and the role of formal and informal support.

Informal support is a vital part of diabetes care, for adolescents in particular. However, we have a poor appreciation of how adolescents characterize informal support relationships, and how they change over time. This article is based on qualitative, in-depth interviews and focus groups with 21 adolescents (14-19 years old) in Leicestershire. We studied the content and substance of relationships between adolescents with diabetes and their families and friends, how they change and develop over time, and how they interact with formal support from health professionals. We identify a key problem--progressive independence from family life and progressive withdrawal of formal health service input leaves some older adolescents feeling isolated, with possible implications for likely maintenance of contact with routine services.