Resilience Among Parents of Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes: Associated With Fewer Parental Depressive Symptoms and Better Pediatric Glycemic Control

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough pediatric resilience plays a significant role in resisting negative moods and improving glycaemic control, little research exists regarding resilience among the parents of adolescents with Type 1 diabetes.ObjectiveTo investigate parental resilience's correlations with parental depressive symptoms, parental diabetes distress, and pediatric glycaemic control.MethodsThis cross-sectional study recruited adolescents with Type 1 diabetes and their parents from two hospitals. The parents completed questionnaires. The 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale measured resilience; the Problem Areas in Diabetes Survey-Parent Revised version measured diabetes distress; the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 measured depressive symptoms. Standard glycated hemoglobin tests were performed on the adolescents.ResultsData from 224 parents (77.2% female, Mage = 39.88 [SD = 5.02], age range = 30–56 years) of adolescents (50.9% boys, Mage = 13.54 years [SD = 2.48], age range = 10–19 years) were available. More than half (52.7%) of parents exceeded the criterion score for high resilience. Parental resilience was significantly negatively associated with parental depressive symptoms and diabetes distress. Parents from the high-resilience group reported fewer depressive symptoms than those from the low-resilience group. In multivariate regressions, greater parental resilience is consistently related to better pediatric glycaemic control beyond parental psychological risk factors.ConclusionsThis study highlights the importance of parental resilience for parental mental health and glycaemic control among adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. The appropriate resilience support programme might be developed for parents, especially for those existing depressive symptoms and diabetes distress.

The effect of social support, diabetes management self-efficacy, and diabetes distress on resilience among patients with type 2 diabetes: a moderated mediation analysis

“…In different situations or when being exposed to risk factors, resilience helps patients solve their problems and cope better [ 46 ]. Resilience theory highlights that stressful conditions can decrease an individual’s Resilience, which may, in turn, jeopardize his/her physical and mental health [ 47 ]. This can be further suggestive that the negative impact of diabetes distress should be taken into consideration before designing interventions to increase resilience in diabetic patients.…”

Quality of Life and Psychological Burden of Parents of Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults with Type 1 Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study during the Lockdown Period of COVID-19

“…These interventions should be aimed at fostering social support, improving diabetes management, and decreasing perceived stress, alleviating parents’ anxiety and focusing on increasing their self-efficacy. Streisand and colleagues [ 26 ] and Luo and colleagues [ 14 ] proposed that healthcare providers and educators should help to manage parental anxiety and depression, increasing their self-efficacy, and that where depression may exist, the person should be referred to a mental health specialist.…”

“…Furthermore, other studies have shown evidence of parents’ efforts to avoid hypoglycemia drives to opposite results, leading to poorer glycemic control. This must draw attention to the urgent need to educate parents in order to reduce their anxiety [ 14 , 34 ].…”

“…Taking the bibliographic references and data into account, it is necessary for healthcare professionals to pay attention to and prioritize educating less-educated parents in the management of their child’s disease. Support is also necessary in cases of low-socioeconomic status families, even including appropriate psychological or financial support or access to appropriate healthcare structures [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

Parental Resilience and Physical Health of Parents of Children With Type 1 Diabetes in Northern Greece

“…Two recent studies have examined the impact of resilience and stress on the lives of parents with children suffering from T1DM. The results of the first survey showed that parents who had high resilience faced fewer depressive symptoms and their children had better glycemic control [ 7 ]. Additionally, the results of the second study showed that parents who reported higher resilience had a better quality of life and better mental health [ 5 ].…”