Empirically Derived Patterns of Perceived Stress Among Youth With Type 1 Diabetes and Relationships to Metabolic Control

Objective Given the inconsistent relationship between stress and metabolic control, the purpose of this study was to empirically derive patterns of perceived diabetes-related stress among youth with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and determine if these patterns relate to overall diabetes-related stress levels and metabolic control. Method A sample of 204 youth with T1DM completed the diabetes stress questionnaire, and their hemoglobin A(1c) (a long-term measure of metabolic control) was obtained from their medical record. Results Latent profile analyses revealed three perceived-stress profiles: "low stress" (LS), "interpersonal/peer" (IP), and "family stress" (FS). The FS and IP groups reported more overall stress than the LS group; however, only the FS group's HbA(1c) values were significantly higher than either the LS or IP groups. Conclusions A global measure of stress may not accurately account for the association between perceived stress and metabolic control. FS, rather than IP stress seems to be a key stress domain linked to suboptimal metabolic control.