Reflections on autonomy and chronic disease: the discourses of parents of diabetic adolescents

Type 1 diabetes is often diagnosed during childhood or adolescence and represents an important change in the life of patients and their parents. It requires a greater control over the body and a great mastery of knowledge and tools used to reach a physiological balance. Parents are highly involved in the management of this disease and it can represent a further dimension to reflect about the construction of youth autonomy. In this contribution, we aimed to examine how diabetic teenagers’ parents talk about diabetes and autonomy. A focus group with 6 parents of adolescents with diabetes in the context of a study launched by the Cantonal Diabetes Program (VD) highlight a set of complex links between chronicity and progression of diabetes and autonomy. Specifically, content analysis of parents’ discourses suggests that they develop different ways to face challenges introduced by diabetes management. These ways of coping provide important insights into how autonomy can be promoted for young diabetics