Abstract

Background

Despite clear evidence that peers are crucial for youth development, research on the role of peers for youth with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is scarce.

Purpose

The present study identified trajectory classes of perceived peer functioning in youth with T1D, based on peer support and extreme peer orientation (EPO). Further, classes were compared with respect to their trajectories of depressive symptoms, diabetes-specific distress, treatment adherence, and HbA_1c values.

Methods

Five hundred and fifty-nine youth (14–25 years) with T1D completed questionnaires at baseline, 1, 2, and 3 years later. Latent class growth analysis identified classes of perceived peer functioning. Multigroup latent growth curve modelling assessed whether these classes were characterized by different trajectories of general and diabetes-specific functioning.

Results

A socially normative class (48%) was characterized by trajectories of high support and low EPO over time. A socially reserved class (29%) was characterized by low support and EPO, and a socially oriented class (17%) by high support and EPO. Finally, a socially vulnerable class (6%) was characterized by low support and high EPO. The normative class functioned significantly better over time than the other classes. The vulnerable class functioned significantly worse compared to the reserved class, despite experiencing equally low levels of support.

Conclusions

The results underscore the need to take youths’ orientation toward the peer context into account alongside support when tapping into the role of peers, because individuals with low levels of support and EPO functioned substantially better than individuals with similar low levels of support but high levels of EPO.

中文翻译：

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关于同伴支持和极端同伴定向在 1 型糖尿病青年中的作用的以人为中心的观点：一项纵向研究。

摘要

背景

尽管有明确的证据表明同龄人对青年发展至关重要，但关于同龄人对患有 1 型糖尿病 (T1D) 的青年人的作用的研究很少。

目的

本研究基于同伴支持和极端同伴导向 (EPO)，确定了 T1D 青年感知同伴功能的轨迹类别。此外，还比较了类别的抑郁症状轨迹、糖尿病特异性痛苦、治疗依从性和 HbA _1c值。

方法

559 名患有 T1D 的青年（14-25 岁）在基线、1、2 和 3 年后完成了问卷。潜在类别增长分析确定了感知同伴功能的类别。多组潜在生长曲线模型评估了这些类别是否以不同的一般和糖尿病特异性功能轨迹为特征。

结果

随着时间的推移，社会规范阶层 (48%) 的特点是高支持和低 EPO 的轨迹。社会保留阶层 (29%) 的特征是低支持和 EPO，而社会导向阶层 (17%) 的特征是高支持和 EPO。最后，社会弱势阶层 (6%) 的特点是支持率低和 EPO 高。随着时间的推移，规范类的功能明显优于其他类。与保留类相比，易受攻击的类的功能要差得多，尽管它们的支持水平同样低。

结论

结果强调，在发挥同伴的作用时，需要将青少年对同伴环境的取向与支持一起考虑在内，因为低水平支持和 EPO 的个体比具有类似低水平支持但高水平的个体的功能要好得多。欧洲专利局。