Developmental differences in reported overparenting, autonomy, and glucose monitoring within a medical specialty camp context

Abstract

Developmentally inappropriate and excessive parenting can manifest at higher levels in children with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). A child’s age, level of T1D training, and time since T1D diagnosis have been associated with higher levels of developmentally excessive parenting (i.e., overparenting), lower rates of autonomy granting, and lower rates of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). Utilizing a structural equation model, the present study examined these associations with data collected from a medical specialty camp (MSC) serving 262 youth with T1D. Respondents primarily identified as female (59.5%), were an average 13.83 years old, and had attended the MSC for an average of 3.72 years. Respondents had an average of 5.95 years since T1D diagnosis, an average of 2.62 years utilizing a CGM, reported checking their CGM data an average of 12.75 times per day, and an average of 12.02 parent CGM checks per day. As youth age increased, rates of overparenting decreased. Similarly, youth with more MSC experience reported lower rates of overparenting. Contrary to the study hypotheses, overparenting had a positive effect on autonomy granting. Finally, a negative relation was found between years with T1D and average CGM checks, consistent with the broader T1D literature where adherence to diabetes management tends to decline in parallel with youth experience level managing T1D.