Symptoms of emotional, behavioral, and social difficulties in the danish population of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes--results of a national survey.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of psychological difficulties in Danish children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes using both child/adolescent and caregiver reports, and to investigate associations between these symptoms and metabolic control, adherence, and quality of life.


METHODS
A total of 786 children and adolescents (8-17 years) recruited through the Danish Registry of Childhood Diabetes completed subscales of the Beck's Youth Inventories (BYI-Y), while 910 caregivers completed the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The participants also completed questionnaires assessing adherence and quality of life. BYI-Y and SDQ responses were compared with results from normative samples.


RESULTS
Children with diabetes generally reported a lower level of symptoms of depression and anxiety, while older adolescents in most cases were comparable to the normative samples. However, the numbers of patients with elevated scores were similar to normative groups, especially regarding the proportion of participants with 'Extremely elevated' scores. Caregivers of children and adolescents with diabetes generally reported the prevalence of elevated scores on the SDQ to exceed the prevalence observed in the norm sample--particularly with regard to older boys. Both BYI-Y and SDQ responses were significantly correlated with HbA1c, adherence, and quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
This study finds Danish children and adolescents with diabetes to report lower or comparable levels of emotional difficulties compared to norms, while caregiver reports are less positive. The results therefore support the value of a multi-informant approach to the assessment of symptoms of psychological difficulty in girls and boys with diabetes.
Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Lene J
LJ
Kristensen
Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus N., Denmark.
Niels H
NH
Birkebaek
Department of Pediatrics, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus N., Denmark.
Anne H
AH
Mose
Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Lena
L
Hohwü
Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Mikael
M
Thastum
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires