Adolescent, Parent and Clinician Perspectives on Time Alone in Chronic Illness Visits at a Single Children's Hospital.
Eleanor Lustig, Alfonso L Floyd, Elizabeth A Friedrich and 2 others
PMID 40761030WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents with chronic illness often share sensitive details about medication adherence and lifestyle risks during time alone with clinicians, which parents cannot hear.
This practice builds trust and prepares teens for adult care, though some prefer parents present.
Key findings
01Time alone allows adolescents to disclose sensitive information about mental health, substance use, sexual activity, and medication adherence that they withhold when parents are present.
02Parents and clinicians view time alone as a developmentally appropriate step that helps adolescents practice self-advocacy and prepares them for the transition to adult healthcare.
03Clinicians face logistical barriers to providing time alone, including limited visit duration, uncertainty about where parents should wait, and potential tension if parents feel excluded.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was a secondary analysis of data from a project not originally designed to assess time alone, so questions were not standardized for all participants. Parents were not asked specific questions about time alone; their perspectives emerged indirectly. The sample was limited to English-speaking families at a single urban tertiary care center, which may not reflect other populations or settings. Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder were excluded. Clinician participants were mostly female and non-Hispanic white, limiting generalizability of provider perspectives.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as evidence that time alone improves clinical health outcomes. The study reports perspectives on communication and process, not changes in disease management or patient health.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →