Peer-reviewed article
Families with pediatric type 1 diabetes: A comparison with the general population on child well‐being, parental distress, and parenting behavior
Cynthia Van Gampelaere, Koen Luyckx, Saskia van der Straaten, Jolien Laridaen, Eveline R. Goethals et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared 105 families with children aged 2-12 years with type 1 diabetes to 414 families without chronic illness. Children with diabetes showed more adjustment difficulties and lower quality of life according to parental reports, though children themselves reported higher quality of life. Mothers of children with diabetes experienced significantly more stress, anxiety, and depression than mothers in control families. Parents of children with diabetes also showed less supportive parenting behaviours such as reduced autonomy support and responsiveness.
Key points
- Children with type 1 diabetes had more adjustment difficulties and lower quality of life as reported by mothers and fathers, though children aged 8-12 self-reported higher quality of life
- Mothers of children with type 1 diabetes reported significantly more stress, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms than mothers in control families; fathers showed no significant difference
- Parents of children with type 1 diabetes demonstrated less autonomy support and responsiveness compared to control parents; fathers showed less protectiveness
- Families with children experiencing suboptimal glycemic control showed worse outcomes, with increased maternal distress and worse child well-being
- Children with type 1 diabetes perceived lower parental psychological control, though parent-reported psychological control did not differ between groups
Limitations
The study relies primarily on parental reports of child well-being and adjustment, which may not fully capture children's actual experiences, as evidenced by discrepancies between parent and child reports. The cross-sectional design prevents determination of causality or whether observed differences pre-existed the diabetes diagnosis.
Abstract
AIMS: The aim of this study was to compare families with a child (2-12 years) with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to families which are not confronted with chronic illness, with regard to children's well-being, parental distress, and parenting behavior. In addition, differences were explored between families whose child has optimal vs suboptimal glycemic control. METHODS: Mothers, fathers, and children of 105 families with pediatric T1D completed questionnaires assessing child well-being, parental distress, and parenting. The control group consisted of 414 families without chronic illness. RESULTS: With regard to child well-being, children with T1D had more adjustment difficulties (as reported by mothers) and lower quality of life (QoL) (as reported by mothers and fathers), whereas children themselves (8-12 years) reported higher QoL compared to controls. In terms of parental distress, mothers, but not fathers, of children with T1D reported more stress, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms than controls. With regard to parenting behavior, parent reports revealed less protectiveness in fathers and less autonomy support and responsiveness in both parents as compared to controls. No differences were found in parent-reported psychological control between parents of children with and without T1D, but children with T1D perceived lowered parental psychological control. Lastly, secondary analyses indicated that especially families with suboptimal child glycemic control showed more maternal distress and worse child well-being (according to parents). CONCLUSIONS: Families confronted with pediatric T1D differ from families without chronic illness: childhood T1D impacts parental perceptions of child well-being and differentially affects mothers' and fathers' distress levels and behaviors.