Psychological well-being, distress and family functioning in young adults with type 1 diabetes: a controlled study

Introduction: In the past decades, Type 1 diabetes has been associated with an increased prevalence of psychological distress (Hislop et al. 2008). However, little is known on psychological well-being and family functioning in this population. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in psychological well-being, distress and family functioning between patients with Type 1 diabetes and healthy controls. Methods: 31 patients with Type 1 diabetes and 31 matched healthy controls were evaluated using the following instruments: Ryff\u2019s Psychological well-being Scales (PWB), Kellner\u2019s Symptom Questionnaire (SQ) and the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD). Student\u2019s t was used to analyze socio-demographic and clinical differences between patients and controls. Results: Patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes and controls did not differ in any socio-demographic variables. As expected, patients presented greater distress in terms of SQ somatic symptoms (p<0.01) and SQ hostility (p=0.05) than controls. As for psychological well-being, diabetic patients showed lower PWB environmental mastery (p=0.029) than healthy individuals. On the contrary, individuals with Type 1 diabetes presented better family functioning than controls, scoring lower in FAD roles (p