Improving Metabolic Control in Diabetic Young Children

: Although intervention or prevention with young children with T1DM may help ameliorate
problems or forestall later problems in metabolic control, a number of potential barriers to
research have constrained the development of such interventions. To assess the feasibility
of intervening with young children and their families, we propose to conduct an exploratory
pilot study of a behavioral intervention for young children (ages 7 to 11) newly diagnosed
with T1DM. The intervention, derived from the pediatric prevention work of Seligman and his
colleagues, seeks to apply positive psychology principles to enhance optimism,
self-efficacy, and parent-child collaboration in diabetes management, in order to improve
quality of life, adherence, and metabolic control. This exploratory study will allow us to
evaluate the feasibility of intervening with young children and their caretakers and to
estimate intervention effect sizes in preparation for a randomized controlled clinical
trial.