Maintaining maternal involvement in diabetes care is important across ages 10 to 15, but the optimal form of this involvement may need to be adjusted to be consistent with the child's level of development. The present findings suggest that better adherence is seen across age when mothers are viewed as collaborating with, as opposed to controlling, their child when dealing with diabetes problems.

The importance of chronological age for changes in maternal involvement suggests the need to examine mothers' and adolescents' developmental expectations for diabetes management. The reasons for transferring responsibility from mother to child suggest many avenues for intervention.

Mothers' depressive symptoms may undermine her care-giving effectiveness during adolescence.

No abstract