Family Therapy for Adolescents with Poorly Controlled Diabetes: Initial Test of Clinical Significance

OBJECTIVE: We examined a structured family therapy approach in promoting clinically meaningful improvements in parent-adolescent conflict in adolescents with poorly controlled diabetes. METHOD: Eighteen adolescents with poorly controlled diabetes and their parent(s) participated in 10 sessions of home-based Behavioral Family Systems Therapy (BFST). Outcome comparisons were made using a sample of adolescents with poorly controlled diabetes (n = 40) from a previous study. Clinically significant improvements were determined by calculating SD differences between treatment and comparison groups on measures of diabetes-related and general parent-adolescent conflict. RESULTS: Home-based BFST produced change in diabetes-related family conflict ranging from 1/3 to 1/2 SD and general family conflict ranging from 1/3 to 3/4 SD. CONCLUSIONS: BFST produced change in family conflict, a variable shown through previous research to relate to treatment adherence in adolescents with diabetes. The test of clinical significance represents an example of a method useful for pediatric research.