Social Support and Peer Group Integration of Adolescents with Diabetes

María de los Ángeles Núñez-Baila, Anjhara Gómez-Aragón and José Rafael González-López
Additional contact information
María de los Ángeles Núñez-Baila: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Avenzoar nº6, 41009 Seville, Spain
Anjhara Gómez-Aragón: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Avenzoar nº6, 41009 Seville, Spain
José Rafael González-López: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry, Universidad de Sevilla, C/Avenzoar nº6, 41009 Seville, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine, through the roles of peers with regards to diabetes, the relationship between the support perceived by adolescents with diabetes and their peer-group affiliation. This is a descriptive, phenomenological and retrospective study based on a qualitative methodology. In-depth interviews with 15 people aged 18–35 with type 1 diabetes mellitus diagnosed in their childhood or adolescence were carried out. Data was analyzed through the interpretation of general discourses. Peers have considerable influence on adolescents and provide them social support from different roles. The protective role basically offers emotional support and sends reminders of different aspects of the treatment, while the indifferent role does not meddle in any aspect related to the diabetes. Both roles can foster social integration of adolescents with diabetes into the peer group. The offender role creates social conflicts through discrimination and stigma of adolescents with diabetes. These roles appear during the process of socialization of adolescents with diabetes, where commensality and situations of self-monitoring or administering insulin, key aspect of diabetes treatment, are crucial. Peer groups, depending on the role adopted, may offer support or bring a specific conflict regarding diabetes to their adolescent peer. The combination of roles that friends and peer group play with regards to diabetes will determine the degree of socialization and integration of adolescents with diabetes.

Keywords: type 1 diabetes mellitus; adolescents; social support; peer influence; role (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2064/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/2064/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:2064-:d:502584

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().