This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Among youths with diabetes, several psychosocial treatments have shown promise in promoting positive health behaviors, psychosocial functioning, and health status. Of the psychosocial interventions empirically examined, Behavioral Family Systems Therapy (BFST) has demonstrated some of the most positive outcomes. While BFST appears to be an effective psychosocial treatment for adolescents with diabetes, there seems to be a number of adolescents who participate in BFST that do not improve. Anecdotally, the subgroup of youths with diabetes who did not seem to respond to traditional office-based BFST appeared to evidence a pattern of chronic poor metabolic control despite the availability of useful medical treatments. These adolescents appear to account for the majority of diabetes-related hospitalizations, other than admissions at the time of diagnosis; and as outpatients, they required a large effort by the health care providers. In trying to understand why this subgroup of adolescents with diabetes does not respond to BFST, it is reasonable to hypothesize that traditional psychosocial interventions are not appropriately tailored to the needs of these youths and their families. In previous research home-based BFST has shown promise in improving the psychosocial functioning of youths with chronically poor metabolic control. This study will involve a randomized controlled trial comparing office-based BFST with home-based BFST for 40 adolescents with poorly controlled diabetes with the goals of improving health behaviors and health status.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 497 publications
