From Caregiver Psychological Distress to Adolescent Glycemic Control: The Mediating Role of Perceived Burden around Diabetes Management

Objective To examine whether perceived caregiver burden around diabetes management mediated the relationship between caregivers ’ psychological distress and adolescents ’ glycemic control. Methods Across three visits spanning 9 months, caregivers of 147 adolescents with type 1 diabetes completed measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms and a measure of perceived burden specific to diabetes management. Adolescents ’ glycemic control was also measured. Results Perceived burden mediated the relationship between caregiver depressive symptoms and adolescents ’ glycemic control. The overall model was significant, F(10,132) 5.0, p<.001, R2 0.27. Fifty percent of the relationship was explained by diabetes-specific burden. The relationship between caregiver anxiety symptoms and adolescent glycemic control was partially mediated by diabetes-specific burden, F(10,133) 5.7, p<.001, R2 0.30, explaining 26 % of this relationship. Discussion A variable linking caregiver psychological distress to adolescent glycemic control is perceived caregiver burden around diabetes management. Implications for clinical practice include targeting caregiver psychological functioning and reducing global and diabetes-specific distress. Key words adolescents; diabetes; parents; health care services. Type 1 diabetes is a common chronic disease, affecting one in 500 youth (SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study Group