The Diabetes-Specific Risk-Taking Inventory: Piloting a New Measure for Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE | We sought to develop and pilot a new measure, the Diabetes-Specific Risk-Taking Inventory (DSRI), to assess unhealthy risk-taking behaviors among adolescents with type 1 diabetes.METHODS | Thirteen diabetes health care providers, 30 adolescents with type 1 diabetes (aged 15-19 years, 60% female, mean A1C 8.7% [72 mmol/mol], and 33% on insulin pumps), and the adolescents' caregivers rated the perceived riskiness of each item on the DSRI. Adolescents completed the DSRI, for which they reported how often they engaged in 34 behaviors that could place them at risk for acute complications of type 1 diabetes or out-of-range blood glucose levels. Adolescents also completed the risk-taking subscale from the Risk-Taking and Self-Harm Inventory for Adolescents, and parents completed the parent-proxy Diabetes Management Questionnaire. Mean A1C during the previous year was obtained via medical chart review.RESULTS | Results indicated good content validity and feasibility for using the DSRI in a research context, as 100% of adolescents who consented to the study completed the measure. The DSRI was positively correlated with general risktaking and negatively correlated with diabetes management, indicating preliminary evidence of convergent validity. The DSRI also correlated with A1C.CONCLUSION | This pilot study extends our previous work in developing a conceptual model for illness-specific risk-taking. The DSRI is a promising new measure to assess illness-specific risk-taking, including unhealthy risk-taking behaviors, for adolescents with type 1 diabetes.

Risky self‐management behaviors in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: Measurement validation for the Diabetes‐Specific Risk‐Taking Inventory

“…14 We previously developed and piloted the DSRI with 13 diabetes health care providers and 30 adolescents (age 15-19 years) with T1D to establish face validity. 14 The DSRI is a self-report questionnaire that instructs adolescents to report the frequency with which they have engaged in each of 31 T1D-specific risk-taking behaviors "over the last year." Answer options include "daily," "weekly," "monthly," "every few months," "once/twice a year," "never," "N/A," or "prefer not to answer."…”

“…The Diabetes‐Specific Risk‐Taking Inventory (DSRI) was used to assess diabetes‐specific risk‐taking behaviors 14 . We previously developed and piloted the DSRI with 13 diabetes health care providers and 30 adolescents (age 15–19 years) with T1D to establish face validity 14 .…”

“…The Diabetes‐Specific Risk‐Taking Inventory (DSRI) was used to assess diabetes‐specific risk‐taking behaviors 14 . We previously developed and piloted the DSRI with 13 diabetes health care providers and 30 adolescents (age 15–19 years) with T1D to establish face validity 14 . The DSRI is a self‐report questionnaire that instructs adolescents to report the frequency with which they have engaged in each of 31 T1D‐specific risk‐taking behaviors “over the last year.” Answer options include “daily,” “weekly,” “monthly,” “every few months,” “once/twice a year,” “never,” “N/A,” or “prefer not to answer.” To score the DSRI, we calculated an average of the following values for each item: 0 for N/A to 6 for daily.…”

“…The Diabetes-Specific Risk-Taking Inventory (DSRI) was used to assess diabetes-specific risk-taking behaviors. 14 We previously developed and piloted the DSRI with 13 diabetes health care providers and 30 adolescents (age 15-19 years) with T1D to establish face validity. 14 The DSRI is a self-report questionnaire that instructs adolescents to report the frequency with which they have engaged in each of 31 T1D-specific risk-taking behaviors "over the last year."…”

“…To address this gap in available assessment tools and empirically examine diabetes-specific risk-taking behaviors, we developed and piloted the Diabetes-Specific Risk-Taking Inventory (DSRI). 14 The DSRI is a self-report measure of risks that adolescents may take related to their T1D management. It was developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts (psychologists, endocrinologists, and nurse practitioners) and with input from adolescents with T1D.…”