Psychosocial Therapies in Diabetes
Report of the Psychosocial Therapies Working Group
- Alan M. Delamater, PHD1,
- Alan M. Jacobson, MD2,
- Barbara Anderson, PHD2,
- Daniel Cox, PHD3,
- Lawrence Fisher, PHD4,
- Patrick Lustman, PHD5,
- Richard Rubin, PHD6 and
- Timothy Wysocki, PHD7
- 1University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida
- 2Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard University Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 3University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
- 4University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
- 5Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
- 6Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
- 7Nemours Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida
Abstract
OBJECTIVE—To review key advances in the behavioral science literature related to psychosocial issues and therapies for persons with diabetes, to discuss barriers to research progress, and to make recommendations for future research.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Key findings from the literature on psychosocial research in diabetes are reviewed separately for children and adults. Specific issues covered include psychosocial adjustment and psychiatric disorders, neurocognitive functioning, quality of life, and psychosocial therapies. Barriers that must be addressed to allow research in this area to progress are discussed. Recommendations are then made concerning high-priority areas for advancing research in the field.
CONCLUSIONS—A substantial amount of behavioral science research has demonstrated that psychosocial factors play an integral role in the management of diabetes in both children and adults. Research has also shown the efficacy of a number of psychosocial therapies that can improve regimen adherence, glycemic control, psychosocial functioning, and quality of life. More research in this area is needed to develop psychosocial intervention programs for specific patient populations and to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of these approaches.
Footnotes
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Alan M. Delamater, PhD, University of Miami School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, P.O. Box 016820, Miami, FL 33101. E-mail: adelamat{at}peds.med.miami.edu.
Received for publication 1 November 2000 and accepted in revised form 20 March 2001.
A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances.
