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Abstract:

Background. Contextual support constitutes a key process for optimizing the psychosocial functioning of adolescents with chronic illnesses. The literature predominantly focuses on parental support, somewhat at the expense of applying an integrative approach to examining parental and peer support combined. The present manuscript combines two studies sampling adolescents with diabetes (Study 1) and congenital heart disease (Study 2) and examined the extent to which different clusters of maternal, paternal, and peer support at baseline were related to psychosocial functioning over time. Methods. In Study 1, 109 adolescents (11-15 years at Time 1) with diabetes from the German Longitudinal Study on Juvenile Diabetes (PI: Inge Seiffge-Krenke) participated at four annual time points. In Study 2, 429 adolescents (14-18 years at Time 1) with congenital heart disease from the i-DETACH study participated in a four-wave longitudinal study spanning 2.5 years. Participants completed self-report questionnaires. Findings. In both studies, four clusters emerged: Lack of support, Peer support only, Parent support only, and Combined peer/parent support. Hence, the clusters obtained were rather similar for both chronic illnesses. Membership to these four clusters was significantly related to psychosocial functioning over time in both studies. Both parent and peer support proved to be of crucial importance towards optimal psychosocial functioning. Discussion. The present studies demonstrated the value of a typological approach for assessing contextual influences on the psychosocial development of adolescents with chronic illnesses. In addition to focusing on parent support, future research should increasingly assess peer support as well in adolescents with chronic illnesses.