Diabetes-related distress and quality of life in mothers during the adolescent to young adult transition in type 1 diabetes

Objective The transition to adulthood presents challenges for families managing type 1 diabetes (T1D), yet maternal well-being during this period remains understudied. Guided by family systems theory and the transactional stress and coping model, this study examined relationships among diabetes-related distress, perceived social support, and quality of life (QoL) in mothers of adolescents and young adults (AYAs; ages 15–25) with T1D. Methods Using a cross-sectional, descriptive correlational design, 72 mothers (M age = 48.6 years, 91.7% White, 87.5% married) of AYAs with T1D (M age = 19.4 years) completed validated measures of T1D-specific QoL, diabetes-related distress, and perceived social support. Kendall’s tau-b correlations analyzed associations among study variables. Results Maternal personal distress demonstrated the strongest negative association with T1D-specific QoL (τb = −0.69, p < .001), followed by mother/AYA relationship distress (τb = −0.58, p < .001) and management distress (τb = −0.56, p < .001). All forms of distress showed large negative associations with emotional well-being and moderate to large negative associations with relationship quality. Overall perceived social support was not significantly associated with T1D-related QoL (τb = 0.15, p = .127), though family (τb = 0.18, p = .036) and friend support (τb = 0.21, p = .015) showed small positive associations with emotional well-being and daily activities. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that maternal diabetes-related distress, particularly personal distress, was significantly negatively associated with QoL during the AYA period. Results highlight the need for routine distress screening, family-based interventions targeting diabetes-specific conflict, and diabetes-specific support resources tailored to this developmental period.