Table 8.

Strategies to Promote Parent Involvement During Adolescence

Topic	Strategy
Parenting an adolescent with T1DM	Educate and provide resources on the developmental and hormonal changes during adolescence and their effects on self-management and A1C levels
Developing a positive partnership between parents and adolescents	Discuss tension between adolescent independence and parental control Provide guidelines for transfer of tasks from parent to adolescent gradually and safely
Communicating positively with adolescents	Practice communication strategies to decrease adolescent perception of parental ‘nagging’ Identify parent and adolescent perspective on challenging situations Identify parent and adolescent responsibilities for T1DM care Identify strategies for when/how parent checks in with adolescent Encourage discussion of challenges and collaborative goal setting
Letting Go	Build adolescent motivation and self-confidence Encourage parents to think out loud when making diabetes-related decisions Allow adolescents to make decisions and discuss outcomes of decisions (positive and negative) Support parents in the ‘ups and downs’ of this transition
Understanding emotions	Normalize parents’ distress, and assess parents for clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression Promote multi-disciplinary care during adolescence with preventive appointments with social workers and/or clinical psychologists Refer parents to their health care providers or other supportive programs/providers as needed
Parent self-care	Encourage self-care in parents and stress the importance to adolescent health Encourage parents to seek support with other parents of adolescents with T1DM Refer to social media resources as appropriate