Associations of parent-adolescent relationship quality with type 1 diabetes management and depressive symptoms in Latino and Caucasian youth.

Objective: To examine associations of parent-adolescent relationship quality (parental acceptance and parent-adolescent conflict) with adolescent type 1 diabetes management (adherence and metabolic control) and depressive symptoms in Latinos and Caucasians.

Methods: In all, 118 adolescents and their mothers (56 = Latino, 62 = Caucasian) completed survey measures of parental acceptance, diabetes conflict, adolescent adherence, and adolescent depressive symptoms. Glycemic control was obtained from medical records.

Results: Across ethnic groups, adolescent-reported mother and father acceptance were associated with better diabetes management, whereas mother-reported conflict was associated with poorer diabetes management and more depressive symptoms. Independent of socioeconomic status, Latinos reported lower parental acceptance and higher diabetes conflict with mothers than Caucasians. Ethnicity moderated some associations between relationship quality and outcomes. Specifically, diabetes conflicts with mothers (mother and adolescent report) and fathers (adolescent report) were associated with poorer mother-reported adherence among Caucasians, but not among Latinos.

Conclusions: Parent-adolescent relationship quality differs and may have different relations with diabetes management across Latinos and Caucasians.