General discussion
This study found substantial differences in transfer experiences, self-management and HRQoL between young adults with T1DM with and without diabetes distress. Those without diabetes distress reported better transfer experiences and better self-management skills and higher HRQoL compared with those with diabetes distress. Young adults with diabetes distress were slightly older; no other differences in background characteristics were found.
Almost 35% of the participants reported diabetes distress. The estimated prevalence of diabetes distress in other studies is 28% in adolescents and emerging adults with T1DM27 and 32% in young adults with T1DM,28 which is comparable to the present study. The outcome that those with diabetes distress were older than those without is congruent with the finding of Lašaitė and colleagues (2016) that emerging young adults more often experienced psychological distress compared with adolescents.27 A study in over 19-year-olds with T1DM found that younger adults more often experienced diabetes distress than older adults.29 Probably, the developmental challenges of young adulthood add to the distress experienced from T1DM itself, which warrants specific attention from healthcare professionals. Wentzell and colleagues indeed concluded in their integrative review that diabetes distress ‘is embedded within the developmental challenges specific to living with T1DM during this phase [i.e. emerging adulthood]’.6 In this light, support of parents is also an important topic. Our study revealed that less young adults who still lived with their parents had diabetes distress compared with those who lived independently. Shaw and colleagues (2021) recently emphasized the (often overlooked) role of parents in promoting young adults’ well-being.30
Worrying about the future and the possibility of serious complications were most often reported as (serious) problems by people with T1DM, in our study and in previous studies as well.13 In general, distress in people with T1DM seems to be related to emotions (worries, feelings and so on) rather than difficulties in practically managing the condition and its treatment.31 However, insights into specific sources of distress in young adults with T1DM is lacking. In this study, the feeling that diabetes is taking up too much mental and physical energy every day, is the second most often mentioned problem, both by respondents with and those without diabetes distress. This problem was also highlighted in our study on HRQoL in these young adults, of whom one quarter reported fatigue due to T1DM.32 Ways to counteract the feeling that diabetes management takes up too much mental and physical energy would benefit young adults with T1DM. Nevertheless, Barry-Menkhaus and colleagues recently emphasized that much work is still needed to find pragmatic and efficient ways to improve self-management of young adults with T1DM.33 Another systematic review also highlights the need to develop effective interventions for this group.34
As for the differences in outcomes between young adults with and without diabetes distress, the latter reported more positive outcomes on all measures. They had better transfer experiences, more self-management skills and higher HRQoL. It is important to note that it is still not clear whether less positive transfer experiences add to diabetes distress or – vice versa – whether diabetes distress makes young adults more negative towards past experiences, including transfer. The only previous study that explored transition and diabetes distress showed that feeling prepared for the transfer to adult care was associated with lower diabetes distress in young adults.18 However, our results suggest that rather than preparation for transfer, reception in adult care, alliance between pediatric and adult care and readiness to transfer seem to be important for young people with T1DM. This suggests that the transfer in care adds to stress experiences by young adults. More research is needed to clarify the sources of diabetes distress in young adults with T1DM.
The finding that young adults without diabetes distress score significantly better on self-management than do those with diabetes distress is not surprising. Self-management encompasses three tasks: medical management, role management and emotional management.35 An association between lower self-care skills (medical management) and diabetes distress is consistently found in other age groups.13 Less is known about the effect of diabetes distress on social participation (ie, the degree to which someone takes up roles in society in different areas like school, work, relationships and so on), but we do know that young adults with social participation rates comparable to those of their healthy peers, generally report lower HRQoL.36 Social functioning and school/work functioning were indeed significantly and substantially lower in the group with diabetes distress in this study. More research is needed to further understand the relation between diabetes distress and social participation of young adults with T1DM. Emotional management involves, among other things, stress management, positive thinking and mental well-being.37 The largest negative effect of diabetes distress was indeed found for emotional functioning. More diabetes distress, therefore, could impair one’s self-management skills.
The question is how to support young adults with T1DM who have diabetes distress. Apart from more insight into their sources of stress and support needs, studies researching distress in adults can provide recommendations that might be valid for young adults as well. First, as mentioned above, it is essential to regularly screen young adults for diabetes distress and have attention for and discuss any worries. Second, it is important to consider what healthcare professionals can do to counteract diabetes distress in young adults with T1DM.13 A recent systematic review suggested that experiencing good communication and positive experiences with healthcare professionals is found to be associated with reduced diabetes distress and better self-management outcomes.38 Previous studies in young people with chronic conditions have linked positive relationships with and trust in healthcare professionals with more positive outcomes as well.39 40 Fisher and colleagues emphasize specific communication styles that healthcare professionals can apply to reduce diabetes distress.38 These recommendations are valid for both pediatric and adult care professionals. Transitional care based on good collaboration between pediatric and adult care and harboring a warm reception in adult care could contribute to alleviate the burden for young adults.20
Strengths and limitations
This study addressed a gap in current literature and provided unique insights into diabetes distress around transfer in care. Another strength is the nationwide representation of young adults with T1DM. A possible limitation is that respondents were more often women; some studies suggest there is a significant association between higher diabetes distress and female gender in emerging adults, but the relationship between diabetes distress and gender is not clear.6 Therefore, we cannot tell if and how the underrepresentation of males in our study may have influenced our results. Another limitation is that the cross-sectional study design did not allow for exploration of causality; longitudinal studies are needed to identify determinants of diabetes distress in young adults with T1DM. Also, while the response rate in this study was rather low, it appears to be comparable to similar (post transition) studies in young people with T1DM.41 Finally, this study did not include any information about diabetes control and the impact on transfer, because the survey and available medical record data were collected in different time periods. Our evaluation study19 revealed that mean HbA1c scores did not change over time (p=0.836); they were elevated across the whole study period with no significant differences between pediatric and adult care. It seems relevant to study the association between diabetes control and diabetes distress in future, longitudinal studies.