Parental depression and diabetes-specific distress after the onset of type 1 diabetes in children.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-2019

Identifier

DOI: 10.1037/hea0000699; PMCID: PMC6407701

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine trajectories of two types of type 1 diabetes (T1D) specific distress (i.e., daily T1D management and worries about the future and long-term complications) and the moderating role of parental depression in parents of children newly diagnosed with T1D.

METHOD: A total of 126 families of 5- to 9-year-olds with new-onset T1D enrolled in the study. One-hundred twenty-five families completed study measures at baseline, 102 at 6-month follow-up, and 89 at 12-month follow-up. Parents completed measures of depression and T1D-specific distress concerning daily T1D management and worries about the future and long-term complications at baseline and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. We used multilevel modeling to examine 12-month trajectories of daily and long-term T1D-specific distress and to examine if parental depression modified these trajectories.

RESULTS: Results showed a significant reduction in daily T1D-specific distress from baseline to 6-month follow-up and maintenance of daily T1D-specific distress from 6- to 12-month follow-up. The significant interaction of baseline parental depression and time indicated that parents with depressive symptoms had a smaller reduction in daily T1D-specific distress from baseline to 6-month follow-up compared to parents without depressive symptoms. Findings for long-term T1D-specific distress indicated that parents with depressive symptoms reported higher distress across all assessment points, with peak long-term T1D-specific distress for parents with depressive symptoms occurring at 6-month follow-up.

CONCLUSION: Many parents experienced significant T1D-specific distress for a period of time following their child's initial diagnosis and this distress appears to be exacerbated by parental depressive symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Journal Title

Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association

Volume

38

Issue

2

First Page

103

Last Page

112

MeSH Keywords

Adult; Child; Child, Preschool; Depression; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Female; Humans; Male; Parents

Keywords

Adult; Child; Child, Preschool; Depression; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1; Female; Humans; Male; Parents

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