Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Factors Associated with Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Mothers of Children with Type 1 Diabetes

Abstract

The experience of having a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) can negatively impact on the mother's well-being and trigger posttraumatic stress symptoms. To date, only one study has examined the role of non-cognitive factors in predicting the occurrence of PTSD in parents of children diagnosed with diabetes. However, in the broader PTSD literature is has been shown that both non-cognitive variables and cognitive variables predict PTSD in traumatized populations. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship of both non-cognitive (trauma severity, psychiatric history and social support) and cognitive variables (negative cognitive appraisals and dysfunctional cognitive appraisals) with PTSD in mothers of children recently diagnosed with diabetes. A single group survey design and self-report questionnaires were used to investigate the relationship between both non-cognitive (trauma severity, psychiatric history and history of trauma, and social support) and cognitive factors (negative cognitive appraisals and dysfunctional strategies) and PTSD symptoms in mothers of children who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the last 5 years. All cognitive variables were positively associated with PTSD symptoms. In contrast, of the non-cognitive variables, only social support was significantly (negatively) associated with PTSD symptoms. Moreover, regression analysis found that cognitive variables explained variance in PTSD symptoms over and above that contributed by the non-cognitive variables. This supports the cognitive model of PTSD. The implications of the study with regards to early detection of and therapies for PTSD in this population are discussed.