Being a young adult is one of the most exciting times in life. Usually, it’s a period of life full of excitement and life changes. As a result, it can also be one of the most difficult times to manage diabetes.1 In fact, recent research has shown that less than 20% of people with type 1 diabetes aged 18-25 years are meeting their diabetes targets.2 One of the best ways to set your adolescent or young adult up for success is to ensure they have adequate support.
Health care professionals and researchers refer the young adults as “emerging adults” that typically refers to ages 18-25 or 18-30.2 This is typically the time in which young people begin to transition into independence from their parents, though many continue to rely on their parents throughout this time for emotional and financial support. There have been many studies that showed continued support from parents for adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes is associated with positive diabetes outcomes.2
What type of support do young adults need or want from their parents? *
In a review of research on parental support for emerging adults with type 1 diabetes, the key desires from young adults were:2
- Ability to have parents take over diabetes care for respite, a “diabetes vacation” for the person with diabetes
- Less involvement in the day-to-day diabetes care activities, but there for support when requested
- Emotional support where parents are accepting of the ups and downs most people with diabetes experience, and help the young adults navigate the challenges with a positive approach
It’s important to note that some of the other themes that emerged from the studies were that some help from parents or people in the parental-like role can be more harmful than helpful and a disinterest or absence of support was associated with negative outcomes in young adults with diabetes. Since we are all so different as people, and people with diabetes, the approach to navigating this time in life should be individualized and full of open, empathetic discussions.
What types of peer support are helpful for young adults?
The developmentally normal desire for young adults to rely more on their peer relationships than their familial, leads them to look for support among their friends and romantic partners. When it comes to young adults finding support from peers or romantic relationships, just like with parental support, the quality of this support can determine if it helps or hinders positive diabetes outcomes.3
Diabetes researcher, Michelle Litchman, PhD, ARNP, FNP-BC, who co-authored the publication about support from romantic partners states, “Emerging adults with type 1 diabetes who were in committed, long-term, romantic relationship experienced higher levels of support than those who were casual dating. Emerging adults who were in committed relationships viewed their partners as being helpful, which positively impacted the emerging adult’s mood.”
Having positive support from friends, partners, friends with diabetes, or health care providers have all been shown to help young adults remain resilient and continue to participate in their diabetes self-care tasks.1 This suggests that it is not really important who the person with diabetes is getting support form, but that they have someone consistently offering emotional or diabetes care related support.
Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Care
It can be really challenging to change abruptly from the pediatric to adult care setting; having a smooth transition plan can help alleviate some of the anxiety related to this big change. The American Diabetes Association suggests beginning the transition discussions in early adolescence or at least one year before the transition.4 They also recommend that both the pediatric and adult health care providers coordinate care to help smooth the transition process.
There are some great resources for young adults with diabetes and their family, friends, or partners including:
- T1D Toolkit – Young Adults
- College Diabetes Network
- CWD’s Friends for Life Orlando each year has a Young Adult program including social activities to help connect you to others living with type 1 diabetes, like you
*It should be noted, in the publication regarding review of parental support that the authors acknowledged that there could be other guardians or people in parent-like roles that fulfill the “parental support” role for people with diabetes. It does not matter what the terminology is, rather the participation in the young person’s life to help guide them through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.
- Defining features of diabetes resilience in emerging adults with type 1 diabetes
- The role of parental support for emerging adults with type 1 diabetes: A scoping review
- Diabetes support from romantic partners during early emerging adulthood
- American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes – 2022, Chapter 14: Children and Adolescents
Written and clinically reviewed by Marissa Town, RN, BSN, CDCES
