Research Profile

This project aims to pilot a behavioral treatment that may help lessen emotional burdens for young adolescents living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). T1D management tasks generally fall on the family and/or person with T1D. Doctors and diabetes medical teams teach youth with T1D and their families how to conduct these daily tasks and manage the technology that helps them do so. However, many youth with T1D and their families feel unprepared to manage the emotional aspects of living with T1D. To support youth in this area, the current research team developed an online group intervention for young adolescents (age 11-14 years old) with T1D. This new intervention aims to help youth: 1- identify emotions in themselves and others (ex: feeling frustrated when insulin is not working as it should); 2- link emotions with decisions about how to respond to difficult situations (ex: feeling embarrassed about a high blood glucose reading can lead to lying to parents and telling them it’s in range); 3- learn strategies for quieting intense emotions to give youth the chance to think through how they want to react rather than letting the emotion drive their reaction. The current study includes a pilot of this intervention, to ensure the intervention is acceptable to youth with T1D, feasible to conduct in an online group setting, and ready for further testing.

Medical teams do a great job of teaching youth with type 1 diabetes about the medical side of living with T1D, such as how to give insulin, count carbs, etc. But, one area that may not be covered as well is how to manage the social and emotional aspects of living with type 1 diabetes, like feeling frustrated with a stubborn high blood sugar or feeling nervous about talking to a new coach about T1D. This project will pilot a virtual group that we hope will help teens and tweens with T1D in managing the social and emotional side of living with T1D. In turn, we hope when these teens are in a difficult situation in the future that the skills they practice in this group will allow them to feel less stressed and more in control of the choices they make and the actions they take.

As a pediatric psychologist, I aspire to improve the lives of youth with diabetes by creating, evaluating, and disseminating innovative, cost-effective, and developmentally informed, psychosocial interventions. The emotional and mental health burdens of having diabetes, are often underappreciated, and overlooked in the medical setting. In my future career, I aim to incorporate more holistic, mental health care into the medical setting and bridge the gap between medical and mental health care, specifically for youth with type 1 diabetes. The project I propose in the current application, piloting the newly developed group intervention for tweens and teens with T1D, is the logical next step in my program of research. This ADA Junior Faculty Development Award will allow me pilot a novel intervention that I have worked over the last 2 years to develop. The pilot will also allow me to obtain the data I need to compete for support for a larger randomized controlled trial of the TRAC-D intervention to evaluate intervention efficacy. In the future, I plan to dedicate my career to understanding and minimizing barriers to mental health care for youth with diabetes. One reason why I chose to adapt the original TRAC intervention is because the original intervention was created for and evaluated with youth from lower socioeconomic level schools. Low socioeconomic status is a social determinant of health outcomes (SDOH). However, many of the research studies and behavioral interventions for youth with diabetes utilize convenience samples, and/or include recruitment methods that prioritize participants who are more willing and eager to participate in research. Many of the same social factors that contribute to poor health outcomes also impede families’ participation in research. In developing the TRAC-D intervention, I used purposive sampling methods to ensure that we included youth of underrepresented groups. In my future research career, I plan to be particularly cognizant of how I conduct research, so that I am reducing barriers to participation in research and ensuring that my research will benefit not only those who are eager to participate, but also families of low SES and other SDOH risk factors.

The field of diabetes research has made tremendous gains in making it possible to live a full life with diabetes. I think the future of diabetes research includes continuing to look for cure, and, at the same time, 1) focusing on equitable care for all people with diabetes, 2) developing supports for the whole person, including mental and emotional aspects of living with diabetes, and 3) increasing opportunities for people with diabetes to have a voice in the direction and implications of diabetes research.