AUTHOR=de Beaufort Carine , Pit-ten Cate Ineke M. , Schierloh Ulrike , Cohen Nathan , Boughton Charlotte K. , Tauschmann Martin , Allen Janet M. , Nagl Katrin , Fritsch Maria , Yong James , Metcalfe Emily , Schaeffer Dominique , Fichelle Muriel , Thiele Alena G. , Abt Daniela , Faninger Kerstin , Mader Julia K. , Slegtenhorst Sonja , Ashcroft Nicole , Wilinska Malgorzata E. , Sibayan Judy , Kollman Craig , Hofer Sabine E. , Fröhlich-Reiterer Elke , Kapellen Thomas M. , Acerini Carlo L. , Campbell Fiona , Rami-Merhar Birgit , Hovorka Roman 

TITLE=Psychological Well-Being of Parents of Very Young Children With Type 1 Diabetes – Baseline Assessment

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Endocrinology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2021.721028

DOI=10.3389/fendo.2021.721028

ISSN=1664-2392

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Background</title><p>Type 1 diabetes in young children is a heavy parental burden. As part of pilot phase of the KIDSAP01 study, we conducted a baseline assessment in parents to study the association between hypoglycemia fear, parental well-being and child behavior.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>All parents were invited to fill in baseline questionnaires: hypoglycemia fear survey (HFS), WHO-5, Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ).</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>24 children (median age: 5-year, range 1-7 years, 63% male, mean diabetes duration: 3 ± 1.7 years) participated. 23/24 parents filled out the questionnaires. We found a higher score for the hypoglycemia fear behavior 33.9 ± 5.6 compared to hypoglycemia worry 34.6 ± 12.2. Median WHO-5 score was 16 (8 - 22) with poor well-being in two parents. Median daytime sleepiness score was high in five parents (&gt;10). For six children a high total behavioral difficulty score (&gt;16) was reported. Pro social behavior score was lower than normal in six children (&lt;6). Parental well-being was negatively associated with HFS total (<italic>r</italic> = - 0.50, <italic>p</italic> &lt;.05) and subscale scores (<italic>r</italic> = - 0.44, <italic>p</italic> &lt;.05 for HFS-Worry and HFS-Behavior), child behavior (<italic>r</italic> = - 0.45, <italic>p</italic> = .05) and positively with child age and diabetes duration (<italic>r</italic> = 0.58, <italic>p</italic> &lt;.01, <italic>r</italic> = 0.6, <italic>p</italic> &lt;.01). HFS, parental well-being nor daytime sleepiness are associated with the HbA1c.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Regular screening of parental well-being, hypoglycemia fear and child behavior should be part of routine care to target early intervention.</p></sec>