Successful diabetes management relies on a process of self-regulation in which treatment behavior is guided by feedback about changing blood glucose (BG) levels and decision-making. The processes involved in self-regulation have been studied extensively in adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM), leading to the development of sophisticated research tools that have significantly advanced our understanding and ability to predict clinical outcome. Additionally, this research has led to the development of a highly effective, empirically based, psychobehavioral intervention, Blood Glucose Awareness Training (BGAT), developed by our research team, that improves self-regulation and clinical outcome in adults with T1DM. Unfortunately, the processes involved in the self-regulation of pediatric diabetes have received virtually no empirical attention. The purpose of the proposed project is to correct this scientific neglect by adapting the conceptual and methodological tools used in adult studies to 1) investigate the process of diabetes regulation by school-aged children (6-11 yrs) with T1DM and their parents and 2) develop and test an intervention to enhance the skills critical to this process. This is an important population to target for this line of inquiry because: 1) children with T1DM and their parents appear to be far less accurate than adult patients in symptom and BG detection; 2) As a group, pediatric patients are more likely to suffer from negative clinical sequelae (e.g., severe hypoglycemia (SH) and DKA); and, 3) Early intervention could have greater public health care benefit by achieving more reductions in acute and long-term complications, health care utilization, and disability. Phases 1A and 1B of the proposed project will provide the first systematic and comprehensive study of symptom recognition, BG detection, decision-making, and subsequent clinical sequelae in school-aged children with T1DM and their parents. A theoretical model of co-regulation of pediatric diabetes is proposed and tested, in which the behaviors of both parent and child influence the sequence of events that determine avoidance or occurrence of negative outcomes, such as extreme hypo- and hyperglycemia. Based on the findings of these studies and our current BGAT for adults, Phase 1 C will pilot test a translation of this intervention designed for parents of school-aged children with T1DM, BGAT for parents (BGAT-P). This intervention will take advantage of the critical role parents play as the primary teachers of children about diabetes management by including training activities for parents to do with their children designed to improve children's ability to recognize BG symptoms, detect extremes in BG, and make appropriate self-treatment decisions. Based on the findings from this pilot study, and feedback from parents, in Phase 2 BGAT-P will be further refined and tested in a controlled clinical trial to assess its short-term efficacy. Phase 3 is a 12-month follow-up study to determine whether the improvements found in Phase 2 are maintained over time and also to assess the impact of BGAT-P on future clinical negative events, including frequency of SH and DKA experienced by children.
| Gonder-Frederick, Linda; Nyer, Maren; Shepard, Jaclyn A et al. (2011) Assessing fear of hypoglycemia in children with Type 1 diabetes and their parents. Diabetes Manag (Lond) 1:627-639 |
| Gonder-Frederick, Linda; Zrebiec, John; Bauchowitz, Andrea et al. (2008) Detection of hypoglycemia by children with type 1 diabetes 6 to 11 years of age and their parents: a field study. Pediatrics 121:e489-95 |
| Gonder-Frederick, Linda A; Fisher, Craig D; Ritterband, Lee M et al. (2006) Predictors of fear of hypoglycemia in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents. Pediatr Diabetes 7:215-22 |
