Enhancing Parental Motivation to Monitor African American Adolescents’ Diabetes Care: Development and Beta Test of a Brief Computer-Delivered Intervention

BACKGROUND: African American youth are at increased risk for poor diabetes management. Parenting behaviors such as parental monitoring are significant predictors of youth diabetes management and metabolic control, but no intervention has targeted parental monitoring of daily diabetes care. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to develop and pilot test a three-session computer-delivered intervention to enhance parental motivation to monitor African American pre-adolescents’ diabetes management. METHODS: The 3 Ms (Medication, Meter, and Meals) intervention was based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model of health behavior change and Motivational Interviewing approaches. Five caregivers of African American youth aged 10-13 years diagnosed with type 1 diabetes for a minimum of one year (ie, the target population) reviewed the intervention and provided feedback via semi-structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Caregivers’ responses to interview questions suggest that The 3 Ms was helpful (minimum rating was 8 out of 10) and they would recommend the program to another parent of a child with diabetes (minimum rating was 9 out of 10). Three of five reported that The 3 Ms program increased the likelihood that they would talk to their child about diabetes. Thematic analysis suggested two primary themes: caregivers found the intervention to be a useful reminder of the importance of supervising their child’s diabetes care and that it evoked a feeling of shared experience with other parents. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 Ms computer-delivered intervention for increasing parental monitoring of African-American youth with type 1 diabetes was well-received and highly rated by a small sample of representative caregivers. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01515930; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01515930 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6Rm0vq9pn).