A World of Difference: Unraveling the Conversations African American Mothers Have with Their Adult Daughters to Negotiate Diabetes

Abstract

Of the 15.7 million people with diabetes in the United States, more than half are women and minority women account for the highest rates of type II diabetes. Medical literature offers a comprehensive biomedical overview of diabetes yet communication scholars have yet to unravel this health disparity, particularly as it relates to black women. The goal of this article is to understand conversations that transpire between type II diabetic mothers and their adult daughter. The conversations held by these dyads can inform the meaning mothers give to their illness. A socio-ecological model was used as the theoretical framework to explain the multi-layered aspect of communicative health behavior. Emergent themes highlight conversations about the familial dynamics, mothers' experiences living with diabetes, and prevention for daughters. This research has extensive value for understanding the role of talk in negotiating a chronic illness and is particularly useful as a cultural snapshot for practitioners who provide information on self-care and prevention to black populations.

Keywords:

• African Americans
• Mother-Daughter Dyads
• Type II Diabetes
• Diabetic Conversations
• Talk
• Socio-Ecological Framework

Notes

1. Axial coding entails the process of relating subcategories to larger categories. This coding process involves putting data back together in new ways after open coding by making connections between the categories (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).

2. This research comes from the author's dissertation. While adult daughters were a primary aspect of the data collection, this article only captures mothers’ talk.