Abstract
Parents of young children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) maintain full responsibility for their child’s daily diabetes self-care
and thus may be vulnerable to experiencing parenting stress. This study examined several psychological correlates of pediatric
parenting stress in parents of young children with T1DM. Parents of 39 young children with T1DM (ages 2–7 years) completed
measures of pediatric parenting stress, mealtime behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and fear of hypoglycemia. For parents
of young children, higher stress frequency and difficulty were associated with higher parental depressive symptoms and fear.
Regression analyses identified that 58% of the variance in stress frequency was associated with parental depressive symptoms.
For stress difficulty, 68% of the variance was associated with parental depressive symptoms and fear. Pediatric parenting
stress is common in parents of young children with T1DM. Stress and the psychological correlates measured in this study are
amenable to intervention and should be regularly assessed in parents of young children with T1DM.
and thus may be vulnerable to experiencing parenting stress. This study examined several psychological correlates of pediatric
parenting stress in parents of young children with T1DM. Parents of 39 young children with T1DM (ages 2–7 years) completed
measures of pediatric parenting stress, mealtime behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and fear of hypoglycemia. For parents
of young children, higher stress frequency and difficulty were associated with higher parental depressive symptoms and fear.
Regression analyses identified that 58% of the variance in stress frequency was associated with parental depressive symptoms.
For stress difficulty, 68% of the variance was associated with parental depressive symptoms and fear. Pediatric parenting
stress is common in parents of young children with T1DM. Stress and the psychological correlates measured in this study are
amenable to intervention and should be regularly assessed in parents of young children with T1DM.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-8
- DOI 10.1007/s10880-011-9256-1
- Authors
- Susana R. Patton, Division of Behavioral Pediatrics, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., Mail Stop 4004, Kansas City, KS 66160-7330, USA
- Lawrence M. Dolan, Division of Endocrinology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Laura B. Smith, Department of Pediatrics, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
- Inas H. Thomas, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Scott W. Powers, Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Journal Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
- Online ISSN 1573-3572
- Print ISSN 1068-9583