UC Merced Magazine | Volume XVIII, Issue IV

By Brenda Ortiz

For the past 20 years, more than a decade of those at UC Merced, health psychology Professor Deborah Wiebe has been researching how family relationships of children with chronic illnesses, especially parent-child relationships, play a role in preventing and managing chronic diseases. “Broadly, my research is to understand how people cope with chronic disease, and to use this information to help individuals and families better manage their illness,” said Wiebe, director of the campus’s Health Sciences Research Institute. “Diabetes and other chronic diseases are more prevalent and progress more rapidly in the Central Valley region, so the work we do has important implications for our communities.” Recently, her work in the Department of Psychological Sciences has focused on understanding how children, families and healthcare professionals work together to manage Type 1 diabetes, a chronic metabolic disease, from adolescence into adulthood. “My prior research shows that social relationships — especially family relationships — matter for diabetes management. Getting support and having people involved in helpful ways related to the day-to-day grind of diabetes is crucial,” she said. Wiebe’s lab is testing an intervention originally designed for adults with Type 2 diabetes by her collaborator, Professor Lindsey Mayberry at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Wiebe’s research team has adapted the intervention to young

people with Type 1 diabetes because previous studies show that the worst time across the entire lifespan for managing Type 1 diabetes is 18 to 24 years old — what they call emerging adulthood. “Our data suggest that a major reason is that they're leaving home, entering new social situations at work and school, and the support they had experienced from family and friends is changing. Young adults may wish to keep diabetes private, so new peers may not know they have diabetes or how to be helpful, or may unintentionally be unhelpful,” she explained. “At the same time, emerging adults are still developing the self-regulation skills necessary to manage their illness independently.” ey recruited their rst participant for the 5-year study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, in April, and plan to have 280 participants, half in California and half in Utah, where Wiebe is working with a long-time collaborator at the University of Utah. Participants are randomized into either the control group or the intervention group. Each member of the intervention group meets remotely with a counselor monthly to set and prioritize diabetes goals, as well as to develop skills to optimize social relationships to achieve those goals. ey also receive text messages to facilitate goal attainment and the helpful involvement of others. Participants can also invite a support person to receive text messages to encourage dialogue and help the participant stay on track. (Continued on page 16)

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Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes

Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year

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