The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected internal and external characteristics and communication (intended and actual) with health care providers (HCPs) about reproductive health and preconception counseling among adolescent females with diabetes.

A descriptive, correlational design was employed to conduct a secondary analysis of baseline data from a multisite, randomized controlled trial. Participants were 110 female adolescents (92% type 1 diabetes). Analysis included multiple linear regression and multivariate binary logistic regression analyses to examine the association of internal characteristics (age, race, religion, and religious beliefs) and external characteristics (ever sexually active, social support, and type of routine HCP).

Participants were from 13.3 to 20.0 years of age, 82% were Caucasian, 80% had never been sexually active, and 58% perceived low to moderate amounts of social support. For both internal and external characteristics, no significant main effects were found for actual or intended communication. For internal characteristics, there was an interaction between race and religious beliefs for the probability of actual communication. African American women who reported that their religious beliefs did not influence their sexual behavior had the lowest probability of actual communication compared to all other participants.

Race and religious beliefs should be considered when providing reproductive health information to young women with diabetes. Further research with a larger, more diverse sample is warranted. These results may be considered for future development of novel interventions with targeted messages based on these personal characteristics to empower young women to initiate conversations with HCPs about reproductive health and preconception counseling.