A psychological support program for individuals with Type 1 diabetes

Abstract

We aimed to test the effects of a psychological support program on the psychological distress, mood, and quality of life of well-educated individuals with type 1 diabetes. A newly developed support program was offered to 60 patients with type 1 diabetes on intensive insulin treatment, previously enrolled in group-care educational programs. Thirty-three subjects participated (experimental group, in groups of 8-12 subjects); 22, who postponed their entry, were used as controls. The program consisted of 7 weekly work sessions of 2 hours chaired by a psychologist and covered aspects of daily living with diabetes using role-playing, metaplan, and problem solving. At baseline and approximately 6 months later, all participants completed a battery of questionnaires, and the differences between the experimental and the control group were analyzed by repeated-measurements ANOVA. In response to the psychological support program, subjects in the experimental group reduced their depressive mood (Beck Depression Inventory and depression scales of the Psychological Well-Being Index) and anxiety (Self-rating Anxiety Scale), improved disease-specific quality of life (Symptom and Well-Being scales of the Well-Being Enquiry for Diabetes), increased their internal and decreased their external locus of control. These changes were accompanied by a 0.3% decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin, whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group (ANOVA, P = 0.032). These results underline the importance of psychological aspects in individuals with type 1 diabetes; treating the psychological aspects related to the disease may be as important as medical control in order to improve living with diabetes.

Augmenting Traditional Support Groups for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Using Instagram: Mixed Methods Feasibility Study

“…Our study enrollment rate for this feasibility study was comparable to traditional in-person support groups for adolescents [29,30]. Additionally, participants' attendance and satisfaction were similar to our previous study in which we assessed the feasibility and acceptability of using Instagram to implement the Photovoice method to share diabetes-related information [21].…”

Fear of hypoglycemia: relationship to hypoglycemic risk and psychological factors

“…distress has a negative impact on self-management and metabolic control [4,5]. Studies have also found that targeting psychological aspects related to diabetes can improve self-management, metabolic control, and also quality of life [6,7]. For many patients with diabetes, fear of complications is a significant aspect of their psychological distress [8,9] with fear of hypoglycemia (FOH) being common [10][11][12] and together with fear of vascular complications rated as the most feared complications [13].…”

Psychotherapeutic Interventions to Improve Psychological Adjustment in Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Review

“…A full overview of the studies is presented in Table 2. Of these, seven were randomized controlled trials and one was a non-randomized trial in which participants that postponed their participation in the study were used as controls [27]. The comparator in three studies was routine diabetes care [28][29][30], another three used alternative interventions like support visits [31], the Regarding location, two studies were carried out in the United States [29,33], four studies were conducted in Europe [27,28,32,34], one in the United Kingdom [31], and one in Australia [30].…”