Poster Presentation ESA-SRB-ANZBMS 2024 in conjunction with ENSA

Initial insights from a six-week intervention in families of 20 children with Type 1 Diabetes: The potential in increasing parental happiness to support healthy pediatric T1D wellbeing. (#550)

Tanya Best 1 2 , Avantika Gokulnatha 1 3 , Chandini Murali 1 4 5 , Gnanagurudasan Prakasam 6 7 , Mehreen Mohammed 1 , Priscilla Sharifie 1 , Vijaya Murali 8
  1. Pediatric Endocrinology, Center of Excellence In Diabetes and Endocrinology, Sacramento, CA, USA
  2. Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering Student at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
  3. Department of Genetics and Genomics, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
  4. Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Sutter Institute of Medical Research, Sutter Health, Sacramento, CA, USA
  7. SUTTER MEDICAL CENTER, SACRAMENTO, SACRAMENTO, CA, United States
  8. Department of Psychiatry, Blacktown Hospital, Blacktown, NSW, Australia

Aim

We investigated the effect of happiness intervention on parental happiness as primary caretaker of a child with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and explored the potential connections for long-term outcomes.

Background

Living with T1D presents challenges for both patients and their families, requiring consistent monitoring and frequent medical interventions. Within these challenges, the psychological well-being of both the children and the caretakers plays an important role in management and overall quality of life. There has been previous research into the relationship between psychological factors and diabetes outcomes; however, there is a lack of information in understanding the role of happiness, especially in the pediatric population. 123 We tried to close that gap by exploring the impact of targeted happiness intervention on parental happiness scores.

Methods

Our study had 40 participants, 20 pediatric T1D patients and their caretakers, diabetes management was assessed through analysis of Dexcom Clarity data. Parental happiness was assessed through the Oxford Happiness Survey. Happiness intervention was conducted through weekly texts and videos with happiness tips, as well as phone calls every other week over six weeks.

Results

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The results show that the caretakers happiness scores increase after intervention with a pre-study mean of 71.24 and post-study mean of 76.51, on a 100-point scale, with no significant changes observed in the child’s diabetes management metrics. In this study, statistical significance was set at a threshold of p < 0.05. Even though p=0.25, and not statistically significant, we believed it to be due to the small number of participants in the study.

Conclusion

Interventions targeting parental happiness may have the potential to positively influence long-term outcomes in T1D management. While further research is warranted to explore the direct impact on children's happiness and diabetes control, we highlight the importance of parental well-being in pediatric chronic disease management strategies.

  1. 1. L. Ferrier et al., “Bridging the gap between diabetes care and mental health: perspectives of the Mental health IN DiabeteS Optimal Health Program (MINDS OHP),” BMC Endocrine Disorders, vol. 21, p. 96, 2021, May 2021.
  2. 2. R. McLarty et al., “Glycemic control, associated factors, acute complications of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in children, adolescents and young adults in Tanzania,” Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, vol. 4, no. 2, April 2021.
  3. 3. J. Perrin et al., “Mental health conditions and health care payments for children with chronic medical conditions,” Academic Pediatrics, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 44-50, January 2019.