Mental health and wellbeing

We are trying to understand what underlies mental health problems in young people with diabetes, with a school-related focus, and how we can best treat them.

The overall aim of the Mental Health Research Theme is to improve mental health and psychosocial functioning for children and young people living with T1D and their families.

This is an important area of research because we know that children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes are at risk of developing poor mental health, particularly in relation to their school experience.

We are trying to understand what underlies mental health problems in young people with diabetes and how we can best treat them.

Current studies

Supporting young people:

Promoting psychosocial wellbeing by reducing barriers to engagement with physical activity
Development of a trauma-informed psychosocial intervention for youth with T1D (Wellbeing-T1D)
Supporting self-disclosure of diagnosis in youth with T1D (initial qualitative study)

Supporting parents:

•Promoting resilience in parents (PRISM-P intervention)
•Supporting anxious parents to raise happy, confident kids (intervention development underway)

Current studies

New Study: Understanding caregiver experiences for caring for a young child with T1D

We know that caring for a child with type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be incredibly challenging. We also know that caregivers of children with T1D experience high levels of distress and anxiety.

We are looking to better understand what this experience is like for caregivers so that we can identify what kinds of support are needed to help caregivers to raise healthy, confident children.

For more information or to participate, click here

RECRUITING NOW

Co-designing transition support: Phase 1

Our researchers believe that to improve services for young adults with T1D in Western Australia, we must start by understanding the experiences of young adults who have recently moved to adult health care.

In this project, we want to understand how young people with T1D and their families experience this transition, and what they feel is needed to make transition easier.

For more information or to participate, click here

RECRUITING NOW

Exercise intervention study - Part one

To develop and pilot an exercise intervention aimed at improving mental health outcomes in this population. The intervention is designed to increase physical activity engagement to improve psychological and physiological outcomes.

FINISHED RECRUITING

Analysing data

Characterising moment-to-moment fluctuation in stress, anxiety and blood glucose levels in adolescents with type 1 diabetes

It is now well documented that children and adolescents with T1D are at greater risk for psychological disorders than young people without diabetes. Our own population-based data shows that Western Australian youth with T1D are over twice as likely to experience severe anxiety disorder than healthy young people. In addition, high levels of psychological distress are associated with poorer metabolic control. Despite the observed link between stress, anxiety and glycaemic control, we still don’t understand how stress, anxiety and blood glucose levels may interact moment-to-moment. In the current study we used a novel method of measuring fluctuations in stress and anxiety throughout the day, using a mobile app and then combined this data with information from continuous glucose monitors. Data from this study is currently being analysed by our team.

FINISHED RECRUITING

Analysing data

Diabetes stigma study

Many adolescents with T1D report feeling self-conscious about managing their diabetes in public and more than 60 per cent of adolescents with T1D report experiencing diabetes-related stigma. There is emerging evidence that the experience of diabetes-related stigma may lead to avoidance of self-management behaviours and in turn, negatively impact glycaemic control. The aim of this study is to further explore the experience of stigma in adolescents with T1D and determine if coping style mediates the relationship between experiences of stigma and both diabetes self-management and glycaemic control.

STUDY FINISHED

Publication:

Ingram JA, Ohan JL, Bebbington K. Diabetes stigma predicts higher HbA1c levels in Australian adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Stigma and Health. 2022;7:454-60. https://doi.org/10.1037/sah0000408

Piloting a self-compassion program to promote physical and psychological wellbeing in youth with type 1 diabetes

Adolescents with T1D are at greater risk for poor mental health outcomes, relative to their peers without T1D. In turn, poor mental health can undermine self-management and contribute to poorer clinical outcomes. As a result, programs designed to promote resilience and improve psychological wellbeing are a priority for T1D research. The Making Friends with Yourself (MFY) program is a strengths-based intervention which aims to help young people be kinder to themselves through self-compassion training. Self-compassion training has been shown to successfully reduce diabetes-related distress, depression and improve metabolic outcomes in adults with T1D. The aim of this project is to determine the capacity of a self-compassion program to improve psychological resilience and promote health outcomes in adolescents with T1D.