Lecturer’s research finds effective way to encourage self-care in young diabetics

10 February 2016

Emily DoeEmily Doe, a Psychology lecturer at The University of Buckingham, has found in an investigation that diabetes-specific support for young adolescents with Type 1 diabetes is not always helpful.

Emily, who is currently finishing her PhD in Health Psychology, investigated the role of peer support in younger people suffering from this lifelong metabolic disorder.

Type 1 diabetes is the name given to the condition where the pancreas does not produce insulin, a hormone which regulates blood-glucose levels. Recent findings suggest that mortality in young females with T1DM is approximately 9 times higher than the population rate, which shows care for these young persons is a major public health concern.

Emily’s research, titled “They think it’s helpful, but it’s not”, found a significant correlation between generic social support and self-care in people aged 15-18 and diabetes-specific support and self-care. Her analysis suggests young adolescents who received diabetes-specific support have poorer glycaemic control, as this type of support was considered to be more like “nagging” and “hassling”. Generic social support, such as feeling cared for, had a positive effect on the adolescents’ glycaemic control, even though this support is independent of health.

One of these studies was presented at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology Conference in London in September 2015. The Buckingham Advertiser have included this research in their weekly paper and the full details of this study will be published in the Spring edition of the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation newsletter.