Strengths-Based Behavioral mHealth App for Parents of Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes-Pilot Study
| Status: | Active, not recruiting |
|---|---|
| Conditions: | Diabetes, Diabetes |
| Therapuetic Areas: | Endocrinology |
| Healthy: | No |
| Age Range: | 12 - 17 |
| Updated: | 1/18/2019 |
| Start Date: | July 31, 2017 |
| End Date: | June 2019 |
Development and Pilot of a Strengths-Based Behavioral mHealth Intervention to Promote Resilience in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) management is particularly challenging during adolescence as
responsibility for management begins to shift from parents to youth, and positive family
teamwork is critical to achieving optimal diabetes outcomes. Existing behavioral family
interventions for T1D are beneficial but have limited potential for translation to clinical
practice, and universal preventive approaches designed to explicitly promote existing T1D
management strengths are needed. Ultimately, the goal of this line of research is to validate
brief, convenient, and helpful tools that families of all adolescents with T1D can use to
strengthen positive family teamwork and ultimately promote optimal diabetes health outcomes.
responsibility for management begins to shift from parents to youth, and positive family
teamwork is critical to achieving optimal diabetes outcomes. Existing behavioral family
interventions for T1D are beneficial but have limited potential for translation to clinical
practice, and universal preventive approaches designed to explicitly promote existing T1D
management strengths are needed. Ultimately, the goal of this line of research is to validate
brief, convenient, and helpful tools that families of all adolescents with T1D can use to
strengthen positive family teamwork and ultimately promote optimal diabetes health outcomes.
Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is among the most common chronic conditions of childhood and its
management is complex and relentless. Adolescents have increased risk for worsening glycemic
control, putting them at risk for short- and long-term complications. As responsibility for
daily T1D management tasks begins to shift from parents to youth, supportive
parent-adolescent teamwork promotes optimal diabetes outcomes. However, adolescents'
cognitive development, desire for autonomy, and changing family and social relationships can
make adherence to treatment recommendations difficult and strain attempts at
parent-adolescent teamwork. This study aims to develop and pilot test a mobile app-based
behavioral intervention to facilitate positive, supportive parent-adolescent interactions
around T1D management. The proposed study has two parts. First, adolescents with T1D (age
12-17), their parents, and diabetes care providers will be invited to participate in
designing a smartphone app that supports parents to recognize, keep track of, and reinforce
their adolescents for specific positive T1D-related behaviors, or strengths. Example
strengths include asking for help with complicated diabetes tasks, talking to friends about
diabetes, and expressing confidence or optimism about T1D management. Intermittently
throughout the day, the app will push parents a prompt to report which positive T1D behaviors
their adolescent has engaged in. The app will generate weekly summary reports of each
adolescent's most frequent strength behaviors, and parents will be reminded via the app to
praise their adolescent for those patterns. Second, this intervention will be pilot tested
with 82 families; parents will be randomized to an intervention or a control condition.
Participants in the intervention condition will use the app for 3-4 months and provide
feedback, and control participants will receive usual care and will not use the app. The main
goal is to determine how often and in what ways families use the app, whether they like it,
and to obtain suggestions for improvement. Trends for impact on important diabetes outcomes,
such as quality of parent-adolescent relationships, T1D treatment adherence, and glycemic
control will also be evaluated. Data - including questionnaires, adherence data from blood
glucose meters, and glycemic control biomarkers from a blood draw - will be collected at
baseline and again 3-4 months later. The results of this pilot study will help refine the
intervention so that it can be evaluated in a fullscale randomized controlled trial.
Ultimately, the goal of this research is to validate brief, convenient, and helpful tools
that families of all adolescents with T1D can use to strengthen positive family teamwork and
ultimately promote optimal diabetes health outcomes.
management is complex and relentless. Adolescents have increased risk for worsening glycemic
control, putting them at risk for short- and long-term complications. As responsibility for
daily T1D management tasks begins to shift from parents to youth, supportive
parent-adolescent teamwork promotes optimal diabetes outcomes. However, adolescents'
cognitive development, desire for autonomy, and changing family and social relationships can
make adherence to treatment recommendations difficult and strain attempts at
parent-adolescent teamwork. This study aims to develop and pilot test a mobile app-based
behavioral intervention to facilitate positive, supportive parent-adolescent interactions
around T1D management. The proposed study has two parts. First, adolescents with T1D (age
12-17), their parents, and diabetes care providers will be invited to participate in
designing a smartphone app that supports parents to recognize, keep track of, and reinforce
their adolescents for specific positive T1D-related behaviors, or strengths. Example
strengths include asking for help with complicated diabetes tasks, talking to friends about
diabetes, and expressing confidence or optimism about T1D management. Intermittently
throughout the day, the app will push parents a prompt to report which positive T1D behaviors
their adolescent has engaged in. The app will generate weekly summary reports of each
adolescent's most frequent strength behaviors, and parents will be reminded via the app to
praise their adolescent for those patterns. Second, this intervention will be pilot tested
with 82 families; parents will be randomized to an intervention or a control condition.
Participants in the intervention condition will use the app for 3-4 months and provide
feedback, and control participants will receive usual care and will not use the app. The main
goal is to determine how often and in what ways families use the app, whether they like it,
and to obtain suggestions for improvement. Trends for impact on important diabetes outcomes,
such as quality of parent-adolescent relationships, T1D treatment adherence, and glycemic
control will also be evaluated. Data - including questionnaires, adherence data from blood
glucose meters, and glycemic control biomarkers from a blood draw - will be collected at
baseline and again 3-4 months later. The results of this pilot study will help refine the
intervention so that it can be evaluated in a fullscale randomized controlled trial.
Ultimately, the goal of this research is to validate brief, convenient, and helpful tools
that families of all adolescents with T1D can use to strengthen positive family teamwork and
ultimately promote optimal diabetes health outcomes.
Inclusion Criteria:
- Diagnosis of type 1 diabetes according to American Diabetes Association criteria for
at least 6 months
- Treated for type 1 diabetes at Texas Children's Hospital Diabetes Care Center
- Parent and adolescent fluency in English
- Parent has mobile device with data plan
Exclusion Criteria:
- Serious medical, cognitive, or mental health comorbidity in parent or adolescent that
would preclude ability to participate
We found this trial at
1
site
Texas Children's Hospital Texas Children's Hospital, located in Houston, Texas, is a not-for-profit organization whose...
Click here to add this to my saved trials
