Introduction: The presence of parents is very important as it enhances the psychology of adolescents resulting to the normal course of the disease.
Aim: Investigate the perceptions of adolescents in order to support families in the management of T1D.
Material & methods: It is a descriptive study and 56 patients participated. The Diabetes Social Support Questionnaire-Family Version (DSSQ-Family) and some demographic and clinical characteristics were used. The study conducted in the outpatient unit for pediatric diabetology of the 4th Department of Pediatrics in one tertiary General Hospital in a major city of Northern Greece.
Results: Younger adolescents felt more supported by their families. Overweight adolescents experienced less support with respect to insulin injections (p = -.333, r = .018), as did the taller respondents (p = -.323, r = .022). Respondents taking more insulin units felt less supported in general (p = -.268, r = .047) and with respect to blood tests (p = -.290, r = .034). Adolescents carrying out more blood glucose measurements felt less supported concerning their meal plan (p =-.307, r = .028), which they rarely complied with (p =-.322, r = .023).
Conclusions: The parental presence is very important enhancing a positive mindset on the part of adolescents and helps achieve the desired treatment results.
Keywords: Type 1 diabetes mellitus; adolescent; mediating; parents; self-management.