Investigating the Prevalence of Emotional-Behavioral Problems in Children With Type 1 Diabetes; [بررسی شیوع مشکلات عاطفی-رفتاری در کودکان مبتلا به دیابت تیپ یک]



Memarian S ; Mostajabi N ; Gharib B ; Rostami P ; Majnoon MT ; Abbasi F ; Mohsenipour R
Source: Tehran University Medical Journal Published:2025

Abstract

Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus, with its increasing prevalence in the pediatric population, has a significant impact on the mental health, quality of life, and lifestyle of patients. The onset of the disease in childhood and its association with the child during school and adolescence, and during the growth and development process, has numerous effects on the growth process and mental experiences of patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Children,s Medical Center from March 2022 to February 2023 on 183 patients with type 1 diabetes aged 9 to 18 years. The duration of the disease ranged from 1 year to 15 years. 44% of the populations were girls and 56% were boys. 77% were under 13 years of age and the rest were over 13 years of age. Information was completed by parents in the Achenbach electronic questionnaire (112 questions). Then, based on the standard defined for the questionnaire, the scores were classified into clinical, borderline, and normal categories. Results: No significant differences were observed between the two sexes in terms of the incidence of various disorders. However, significant differences in the incidence of externalizing problems have been reported at different ages and different disease durations. Analysis of the mean T-scores of the studied patients showed that there were significant differences between patients older than 13 years younger than 13 years in terms of externalizing problems, anxiety/depressive disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders, law-breaking behavior, internalizing problems, and general problems. A significant relationship was observed between the study population and the duration of the illness in terms of aggressive problems, law-breaking problems, and externalizing disorders. Average scores in externalizing disorders, affective/depressive disorders, law-breaking behavior, internalizing problems, and general problems were significantly related to different ages. Conclusion: The results of this study show that as patients aging and more than 5 years since the onset of diabetes, the risk of developing psychiatric disorders increases. As a result, routine psychiatric screening is recommended for these children. Copyright © 2025 Memarian et al. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. s work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited.