Depression as a predictor of hypoglycemia worry in parents of youth with recent-onset type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Background: During the recent-onset period of type 1 diabetes (T1D), parents may be at increased risk for depression, stress, and hypoglycemia fear; however, current studies have not examined the parental psychological experience and anxiety from hypoglycemia fear (ie, hypoglycemia worry) over time. This study examined the trajectory of parental hypoglycemia worry (Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Worry [HFS-Worry]) in families of children with recent-onset T1D and the effects of baseline parental depression on parents' trajectory of HFS-Worry.

Methods: We enrolled 128 families of children ages 5- to 9-years-old with recent onset T1D in this study. At baseline, 125 parents completed measures of depression and HFS-Worry, followed by 111 at 6-month follow-up, 113 at 12-month follow-up, and 107 at 18-month follow-up. We used multilevel modeling to examine the 18-month trajectories of HFS-Worry and to examine if parental depression modified these trajectories.

Results: We found that parents HFS-Worry scores increased over time for parents with and without elevated depressive symptoms. Parents' baseline report of depression appeared to modify their trajectory of HFS-Worry over time such that parents with elevated depressive symptoms reported significantly higher levels of worry when compared to parents without depressive symptoms across the 18-month study period (P < .05).

Conclusions: Parents of children with recent-onset T1D, who reported elevated depressive symptoms, reported higher HFS-Worry across the study period. Our findings suggest clinics should consider screening for parent depression and hypoglycemia worry following a T1D diagnosis. Integrating psychological screening for parents could help clinics to provide relevant treatment resources and tailor diabetes education for parents. Trial Registration NCT03698708.

Keywords: depression; hypoglycemia worry; parents; recent-onset; type 1 diabetes.

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Figures

Figure 1.

Changes in HFS-Worry over 18 months for parents with and without clinically- relevant depressive symptoms. Data are presented as least square means with error bars representing the standard error of each mean.

Figure 2.

Changes in HFS-Worry-Helplessness over 18 Months for parents with and without clinically-relevant depressive symptoms. Data are presented as least square means with error bars representing the standard error of each mean.

Figure 3.

Changes in HFS-Worry-Social Consequences over 18 Months for parents with and without clinically-relevant depressive symptoms. Data are presented as least square means with error bars representing the standard error of each mean.