Conflicts between Children with Juvenile Diabetes Mellitus and their Parents

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), or juvenile DM, is the most common chronic endocrinopathy of childhood and adolescence. The long lasting nature of the disease can become a cause of conflict between parents and children. Aim: Review of the nature and causes of conflict between parents and children with type 1 DM that emerge during management of the disease. Method: Systematic review of studies published over the past 10 years in the databases PubMed, Google and Medline, using the key-words: “Conflicts”, “adherence”, “parents”, “children”, “type 1 diabetes mellitus”. Among the retrieved articles, 87 had relevance to the topic, of which only 11 were fully informed. Results: The main causes of conflict reported between parents and children with type 1 DM were associated with the children’s age, adherence to the recommended meal and snack schedule and food restrictions, the independence and autonomy of teenagers, behaviour disturbances due to restrictions and the outsourcing of their feelings. Excessive concern on the part of the parents, their perceived lack of understanding and the different views about who is responsible for the decision making were identified as issues that commonly trigger conflicts between parents and their children, especially in adolescence. The involvement of health professionals in conflict resolution has been shown to be vital in reducing negative behaviour. Conclusions: The review showed that the quality of the relationship with their parents of children with type 1 DM is the key factor in the effective management and treatment of the disease.

Category: Volume 51, N 1
Hits: 790 Hits
Created Date: 15-03-2012
Authors: Eva Konstantaki , Kalliope Papadopoulou , Vassiliki Matziou