February 09, 2026
3 min read
Key takeaways:
Young people who reported receiving more help with type 1 diabetes care had better self-management behaviors.
More diabetes-related help was also associated with lower HbA1c.
Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes who reported receiving help with managing their disease may have better glycemic outcomes as they transition from pediatric to adult care, researchers reported.
Marisa Hilliard
In a study published in Diabetic Medicine, researchers analyzed baseline data from adolescents and young adults who enrolled in a randomized clinical trial to assess a behavioral intervention to support the transition from pediatric to adult care. After conducting four multiple regression models, researchers found that participants who said they received more help with managing their diabetes had better self-management skills and lower HbA1c.
Adolescents and young adults had better glycemic outcomes if they received more support with diabetes management from family and friends. Image: Adobe Stock
“These findings suggest that helping young adults access diabetes-related support from family or friends may be helpful,” Marisa Hilliard, PhD, professor of pediatrics in the division of psychology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, and Caroline Roberts, PhD, pediatric psychologist in the department of psychology at Scottish Rite for Children in Dallas, told Healio. “This could include sharing information or resources for support networks they can access, encouraging supportive family interactions into young adulthood or other approaches.”
Caroline Roberts
Researchers obtained data from 100 adolescents and young adults aged 17 to 25 years with type 1 diabetes for at least 1 year at enrollment (mean age, 19.9 years; 58% women). General social factors, diabetes-specific social factors and diabetes self-management behaviors were assessed. Participants also responded to one question about diabetes-specific support during the COVID-19 pandemic. HbA1c was obtained through electronic medical records. All data were collected at baseline from February 2021 through June 2023.
Study outcomes
Stronger general emotional support was the lone general social factor associated with better diabetes self-management behaviors (beta = 0.28; P < .05). Getting more help with diabetes care (beta = 0.37; P < . 001) and receiving stronger pandemic-related diabetes support (beta = –0.33; P < .001) were tied to improved self-management behaviors. In both models, continuous glucose monitoring use was also associated with higher diabetes self-management behavior score.
No general social factors were associated with HbA1c. Among diabetes-specific social factors, getting more help with diabetes care was associated with lower HbA1c (beta = –0.26; P < .05), whereas greater comfort talking about diabetes and engaging in self-management around others was linked to higher HbA1c (beta = 0.24; P < .05).
“We were a bit surprised to see a link between higher levels of diabetes disclosure and higher HbA1c,” Hilliard and Roberts said. “Given the safety aspects of people being aware of diabetes and how to help in an emergency, we expected this would be linked with lower HbA1c values. It might be that as they left pediatrics, young adults who faced more diabetes challenges decided to seek out help from the people in their lives. However, we need more research to better understand young adults’ decisions about telling others about their diabetes.”
Importance of social support
Hilliard and Roberts said the study findings shed light on how important it is for adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes to receive help from family and friends as they transition to adult care.
“As they are leaving pediatric diabetes care and transitioning to an adult care setting, this social network may be particularly valuable to help young adults keep up with everything they need to do to take care of their diabetes, along with everything else going on in their lives,” Hilliard and Roberts said. “Because this study took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, social support may have been particularly relevant, though we expect the importance of diabetes-specific support was not particular to the pandemic.”
Hilliard and Roberts said their team is conducting a trial to assess the impact of a peer mentoring program for young adults with type 1 diabetes and hope that the study will lead to more research on diabetes support in that population.
For more information:
Marisa Hilliard, PhD, can be reached at endocrinology@healio.com.
Caroline Roberts, PhD, can be reached at endocrinology@healio.com.