Attentional bias to diabetes cues mediates disease management improvements in a pilot randomized controlled trial for adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

For type 1 diabetes management, the role of attentional bias remains unclear. This secondary analysis examined type 1 diabetes attentional bias and adolescent type 1 diabetes management prior to and during a cognitive and behavioral intervention. Youth with type 1 diabetes and above target glycemic control were assigned to intervention or usual care control. Participants completed baseline and follow-up type 1 diabetes Stroop tasks, HbA1c tests, and blood glucose meter downloads. Intervention was associated with greater reductions in type 1 diabetes attentional bias than control, and these reductions partially mediated the effect of treatment on diabetes management behaviors. Type 1 diabetes attentional bias is a potential target to improve type 1 diabetes management.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01722643.

Keywords: adolescence; attentional bias; diabetes management; type 1 diabetes.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.

The multi-component treatment was associated with reductions in diabetes attentional bias and in turn increased SMBG at 6-month follow-up. Unstandardized coefficients are presented followed by their standard error in parentheses. SMBG: self-monitoring of blood glucose. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001, NSp > .05.