I have over 30 years of research experience examining social and developmental factors in the prevention and management of chronic illness, including how sociocultural contexts (race, ethnicity, SES, culture and neighborhood factors) shape health disparities across development. Much of my work has focused on family relationships and adolescent diabetes management, where lower SES and racial/ethnic minority youth often have poorer glycemic control and self-management behaviors. My team has demonstrated that lower SES can undermine social relationships that are needed to support diabetes management, that the role of parental involvement in diabetes management differs in Latinos where family roles are central cultural features, and that both race/ethnicity and neighborhood context shape how families manage diabetes across adolescence in complex ways. While much of my work has focused on adolescent diabetes management, the concepts are broadly applicable to a range of social, developmental, and health disparity contexts that I have also examined (e.g., interpersonal processes in cancer decision-making in a safety net hospital; family decisions for adolescent HPV vaccines in low literacy populations).
Health and illness occur in the context of daily family life; by understanding these processes, we have the potential to promote better health, better illness management, and better family relationships.
- Parent-child relationships and diabetes management
- Ethnic disparities in diabetes management
- Managing diabetes during adolescence
- Executive functions and illness management; Depression and diabetes.
