UC Merced Magazine | Volume XVIII, Issue IV

(Continued from page 15)

“We get blood samples to index blood sugar levels,” Wiebe said. “We also measure self-reported self-care behaviors, as well as diabetes distress, a measure that captures feeling frustrated or overwhelmed by diabetes. Diabetes distress is an important variable because it can turn into depression if symptoms last for too long.” Turning Illness into Passion At age 13, Aislinn Beam was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. “My mom always came to my doctor’s appointments; I was learning how to give myself injections and things like that,” the Orange County native said. “We shared the responsibility instead of it primarily being on one of us.” When she was learning more about diabetes, she found that much of the research was not easily accessible, especially to an adolescent. “I wanted nd a way to change that,” Beam said. Years later, she graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in comparative literature and worked as an applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy behavioral interventionist. She said that sparked her interest in psychology research. Beam decided to pursue graduate studies at UC Merced a er learning about Wiebe’s health psychology research focus. She joined the lab in 2018. Her research centers on insulin restriction — when a person with diabetes who needs to be taking insulin does not, for whatever reason. Beam is examining how parents’ involvement may prevent or reduce this risky behavior during emerging adulthood. Beam was part of the pilot study Wiebe’s team completed in 2020-21 to determine if the intervention was feasible. Beam conducted exit interviews and qualitatively coded the interviews to gauge how participants felt about their experience. “Aislinn was heavily involved in helping translate the original intervention to the young adult Type 1 diabetes population,” Wiebe said. “She has been crucial in giving us a perspective from a patient’s viewpoint.” Beam said she is proud to be part of the Wiebe lab because she knows rsthand what it is like trying to gure out diabetes management in her early 20s and she hopes this research can help someone who's going through that. “I have done what I set out to do as a Ph.D. student — contribute to the research and knowledge about what we can do for people who are struggling with Type 1 diabetes,

especially in emerging adulthood when it is such a hard time for diabetes management,” she said. Seventeen years a er her initial diagnosis, she is slated to earn her doctoral degree in Psychological Sciences in December. “I would like to continue to contribute in some way to help young people with chronic illnesses — adding more knowledge that could help with future interventions or working at a company that is trying to help people with chronic illnesses by providing better technologies for disease management.” Beam said. Examining Culture and Communications Another aspect of Wiebe’s research is examining how sociocultural factors, including socioeconomic status, cultural beliefs and race/ethnicity a ect how young people and their families manage diabetes. Developmental Psychology Professor Alexandra Main, who studies child and adolescent development, started a study in collaboration with Wiebe, Health Psychology Professor Linda Cameron and others, on family diabetes communication a decade ago when Main was a postdoctoral scholar in Wiebe’s lab. Main joined the UC Merced faculty in 2014 and led a study focused on Latinx families who have an adolescent with diabetes. e research team viewed recorded interactions between parents and adolescent participants from Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera and Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), two diabetes clinics that have large Latinx patient populations, to examine Latinx cultural values and parent-child communications around diabetes. Most of the study’s participants are from underresourced backgrounds or lower-income families, Main said, which could make their ndings highly signi cant for many communities in the Valley.

A graduate student helps analyze family dynamics by coding certain behaviors on a video of family interactions.

16

UC MERCED MAGAZINE // UCMerced.edu