Correlates of a history of traumatic events among Hispanic adolescents with diabetes and depression

Resumen

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at increased risk for mental health problems. A history of traumatic events (HTE) predicts negative health outcomes in youth. Few studies have examined HTE correlates among T1D youths. We examined differences in mental health and diabetes-related outcomes among T1D adolescents with (G1; n = 24) and without (G2; n = 27) HTE. Participants were 51 Hispanics, aged 12–17 years, enrolled in a depression treatment study. Youths and one caregiver each completed several measures. Using MANOVA, followed by individual ANOVAs, and Chi-square tests, we compared groups in continuous and categorical variables, respectively. MANOVA results were significant for mental health [F(5, 45) = 2.68, p = .03] and diabetes-related variables [F(2, 48) = 5.09, p = .01]. Adolescents from G1 reported higher depression, anxiety, and cognitive alterations scores; evaluators rated them as more depressed and functionally impaired than youth from G2. The former reported more diabetes-related worries and hypoglycemia severity than their counterparts did. A higher percentage of G1 participants met criteria for major depression, presented a history of suicidality, reported sadness due to T1D, experienced at least two hypoglycemic episodes in the previous week, and had a caregiver with major depression. We documented significant differences in mental health and diabetes-related outcomes between T1D adolescents with vs. without HTE. Our findings suggest the need for examining HTE potential role as a moderator of change in interventions targeting psychosocial and health-related outcomes with this population. Funded by NIDDK (R03DK092547).