The Relationship Between Perceived Family Climate and Glycemic Control in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Adolescent Patients

Objective: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic disease which ranks third in children under age 16 years. Expressed emotion (EE) is a term that indicates a specific family climate including lack of emotional support (LES), irritability, and emotional over-involvement. It is known that the family environment is highly important for glycemic control in diabetic adolescents. In this study, the relationship between perceived EE and glycemic control in adolescents diagnosed with T1DM not accompanied by psychopathology were investigated.
Methods: The study included 49 adolescents with T1DM and 50 adolescents as a control group. Adolescents with psychopathology and intellectual disability were excluded from the study. Perceived EE was measured by the Shortened Level of Expressed Emotion Scale (SLEES) and blood sugar regulation was assessed by HbA1c levels.
Results: The adolescents with T1DM showed a significant difference in perceived EE (p=0.020) and LES (p=0.014) when compared with the control group. When diabetic adolescents were compared among themselves, the diabetic adolescents with poor glycemic control perceived greater EE (p=0.033) and less emotional support (p=0.049). In regression analyses, the predictive power of mother’s educational level, the employment status of mothers and the subscale “LES” of SLEES combined to explain HbA1c level was determined to be 37.8%.
Conclusion: The strong relationship between perceived EE and glycemic control showed us that perceived EE can hinder treatment compliance without causing psychopathology. For this reason, it is recommended that not only patients with psychopathology, but all diabetic adolescents receive psychosocial support and family interventions.