Parent-Child Relationship Quality as a Mediator of the Association between Perceived Stress and Diabetes Self-Management in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

Diabetes self-management is suboptimal in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D), including those in China. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of parent–child relationship quality on diabetes self-management. Data were collected by a self-report survey among 122 Chinese adolescents from April to July 2017. The data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance, descriptive analyses, correlation analyses, and mediation analyses. The mean age was 13.8 (range, 10–18) years, and the mean diabetes duration was 4.1 (±3.1) years. About half of the adolescents with T1D experienced high levels of perceived stress. Parent–child relationship quality mediated the associations between perceived stress and collaboration with parents, diabetes care activities, and diabetes communication on aspects of diabetes self-management ( ps < 0.05). To reduce the negative impacts of perceived stress on diabetes self-management in this population, parent–child relationship quality should be considered an important element of family-based interventions and clinical practice.