808-P: A New Measure of Diabetes-Specific Self-Compassion for Parents of Youth with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D)

Abstract

Managing T1D is highly demanding while offering little in terms of rewards or positive reinforcement. Parents often experience high levels of emotional distress and burden, with implications for parent and child wellbeing and parent self-efficacy for managing diabetes. Parents may also experience self-criticism regarding their management of T1D. Diabetes-specific self-compassion (SC), or being kind to oneself in the face of challenges that arise in managing diabetes, has the potential to buffer against the negative impact of diabetes distress. The purpose of this study was to create a new tool, the Diabetes-Specific Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-Dp), to assess diabetes-specific SC in parents of youth with T1D. We adapted a previously validated measure for adults with T1D; surveyed parents (N=198; parent: 88% female; 95% non-Hispanic white; M age=44±8.9; child: 46% female; M age=13±3.4, range 2-18 years; 83% insulin pump users; 40% CGM users; A1c from clinic data available for 76 participants: M A1c=8.1±1.3%) and conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), reliability and construct validity analyses. The 19-item SCS-Dp had excellent internal consistency (ɑ=.94; range of item-total correlations: .52-.81). The CFA model showed evidence of good fit: SRMR=0.04; RMSEA=0.05; CFI=0.95; χ2(171)=1637.02, p<0.0001. Validity measures included diabetes distress, diabetes empowerment, diabetes numeracy, and A1c. As predicted, greater SC was associated with lower distress (r=-.68, p<.001) and greater empowerment (r=.43, p<.001) and was not associated with diabetes numeracy (p=.61). SCS-Dp was not associated with A1c (p=.28). Results suggest that the SCS-Dp is a reliable, valid measure of diabetes-specific SC in parents and may help determine points of intervention for this population. Interventions to increase diabetes-specific SC in parents may aid in ameliorating diabetes distress through increasing self-kindness in the context of diabetes-related challenges. Disclosure M.L. Tanenbaum: None. J.J. Wong: None. S. Hanes: None. K.K. Hood: Consultant; Self; Lilly Diabetes. Research Support; Self; Dexcom, Inc. Speaker's Bureau; Self; Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute.