The Association of Happiness and Resilience with Glycemic Control in Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Depression and anxiety are examples of states of emotion that are associated with poor adherence to treatment in pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) . The relationship between perceived happiness and glycemic control is unknown. Resilience also influences perceived happiness and is positively correlated with improved compliance in T1DM. The purpose of this study is to determine if perceived happiness and resilience are positively correlated with better diabetes control. Methods: Participants were patients between 12-18 years of age with T1DM for 2 or more years without a mental health condition, learning disability, history of substance abuse, or recent significant adverse life events. The Oxford Happiness Score and the Diabetes Strengths and Resilience (DSTAR) Questionnaires were completed by patients. Demographics, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) , mode of treatment, and duration of TIDM were documented. Pearson Correlations were used to assess the relationship of Happiness with HBA1c, DSTAR, and duration of diabetes. Analysis of Variance was used to determine if mean happiness and DSTAR varied by mode of treatment. Results: Data were obtained from 34 patients with a mean age of 14.7±2.16 years, had a mean HbA1c of 8.5±2.03, and had T1DM for 6.8±3.79 yrs. Happiness did not correlate with HbA1c (r =-0.229, p=0.201) . Higher resilience was correlated with lower HbA1c (r=-0.562, p=0.002) and a higher resilience correlated with increased happiness (r= 0.597, p=0.001) . Patients using pump therapy had both higher DSTAR (F1,25 =15.39, p = 0.001) and happiness scores (F1,31=12.44, p=0.001) when compared with patients on insulin injections. Conclusion: Our preliminary data suggests that increased happiness is associated with higher resilience in patients with T1DM. Furthermore, patients with higher resilience have lower HBA1c. Our ongoing study aims to recruit more patients and identify targeted interventions to improve states of emotion in T1DM. Disclosure R.Ramesh: None. C.Parise: None. A.Vyas: None. G.Byeon: None. A.Sanfilippo: None. N.Marlen: None. A.Hankins: None. M.Guillen: None. J.Alford: None. U.Nadgir: None. G.Prakasam: None.