Background: Diabetes-specific risk taking (DSRT) refers to unhealthy, risky behaviors that put someone with diabetes at increased risk for suboptimal health outcomes (e.g., drinking alcohol with others who are unaware you have T1D). DSRT is associated with less engagement in T1D management and higher HbA1c. This study set out to determine if lower levels of parental involvement in T1D care and higher levels of diabetes distress, also associated with less optimal T1D outcomes, were associated with DSRT among adolescents with T1D.
Methods: Participants were 104 adolescents with T1D (Mage = 13.50 years, SDage = 1.69 years, 53.8% female, MHbA1c = 8.74%, SDHbA1c = 1.24%) who enrolled with their caregivers in a randomized controlled trial integrating psychologists and dietitians into T1D care visits (35% enrollment). Adolescents completed baseline measures of parental involvement, diabetes distress, and DSRT; caregivers reported demographics; and HbA1c was collected from the electronic medical record. Hierarchical linear regression was used to examine whether parental involvement and diabetes distress predicted DSRT after controlling for participants’ sex, race, ethnicity and HbA1c.
Results: The full model was statistically significant and accounted for 29.7% of the variance in diabetes-specific risk taking (F(2, 91)= 19.1, p < .001). Neither HbA1c, sex, race nor ethnicity were statistically significant predictors of DSRT. Higher levels of diabetes distress (β = .23, p = .01) and lower parental involvement (β = -.44, p < .001) predicted more frequent DSRT.
Conclusions: Adolescents with more diabetes distress and less collaborative parental involvement in T1D management reported more diabetes-specific risk taking. While causality cannot be asserted, these results can inform targeted behavioral interventions to help youth who are more likely to take risks in their T1D care. Future research should consider other factors contributing to diabetes-specific risk taking.
C. Thomas: None. T. Wysocki: None. M. A. Alderfer: None. P. Enlow: None. R. M. Wasserman: None. A. Milkes: None. J. Pierce: None. S. Gurnurkar: None. M. Carakushansky: None. D. A. Doyle: None. J. S. Pendley: None.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DP3DK113235)