Comparison of mothers of adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus and mothers of healthy adolescents in terms of difficulty in emotion regulation, depression and anxiety levels and clinical variables.

BACKGROUND

The aim of our study was to evaluate the difficulty in emotion regulation, depression and anxiety levels of mothers with a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) compared to mothers of the non- T1DM control group.

METHODS

Our study included 72 adolescents followed up with T1DM and 72 healthy adolescents and their mothers. Psychiatric evaluation of children was performed according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. All mothers were administered the `Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale-Brief Form (DERS-16)` and the `Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale (HAD)`.

RESULTS

The most common psychiatric diagnoses in the T1DM group were attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders. The total and subscale scores of the DERS-16 and HAD scales of the mothers in the T1DM group were significantly higher than the control group. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the DERS-16 total score and the HAD total and subscale scores of the mothers in the T1DM group. In the multivariate model found to be significant (p < 0.001), only HbA1c levels an indicator of metabolic control, had significant and negative effects on emotion regulation, anxiety and depression (p < 0.05), while sociodemographic characteristics did not have a significant effect (p > 0.05) Conclusions. Difficulty in emotion regulation and depression-anxiety levels were found to be higher in mothers of adolescents with T1DM compared to the control group. Difficulties in emotion regulation, depression and anxiety symptoms in the parent may reduce the treatment compliance of the adolescent with T1DM, which may result in worse metabolic control. Therefore, both adolescents and their parents should be evaluated in terms of psychiatric symptoms and necessary guidance should be given.