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Paediatric Type1 Diabetes Management and Mothers' Emotional Intelligence Interactions
Jolanta Žilinskienė1, Linas Šumskas2, Dalia Antinienė1
1Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Public Health, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, A. Mickevičiaus Street 9, LT-44307 Kaunas, Lithuania.
Insights
Mothers with higher emotional intelligence (EI) demonstrate better management of their children's type I diabetes (T1DM). Specifically, understanding and regulating emotions positively impacts children's glycaemic control.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Psychology
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Parental emotional well-being significantly influences child health.
- Emotional intelligence (EI) in caregivers is a potential factor in managing chronic childhood conditions.
- Type I diabetes (T1DM) in children requires consistent and effective disease management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between maternal emotional intelligence (EI) and the management of pediatric type I diabetes (T1DM).
- To determine if maternal EI predicts glycaemic control in children with T1DM.
- To explore specific EI components related to T1DM disease management.
Main Methods:
- Survey of 134 mothers of children (aged 6-12 years) with T1DM.
- Assessment of maternal emotional intelligence using EI scales.
- Measurement of paediatric T1DM management via HbA1c levels.
- Logistic regression analysis to assess EI-T1DM management associations.
Main Results:
- Maternal EI scales and subscales showed significant associations with glycaemic management indices (HbA1c).
- Specific EI components, including understanding/controlling own emotions and transforming negative emotions, were statistically significant predictors.
- Mothers' ability to manage their own emotions correlated with better T1DM management in their children.
Conclusions:
- Maternal emotional intelligence is a reliable predictor of glycaemic control in children with T1DM.
- Targeting maternal EI may offer a novel approach to improving pediatric T1DM management.
- The emotional regulation capacities of mothers are crucial for effective diabetes care in children.
Abstract:
The functioning of the parents' emotional sphere is very important to a child's mental and physical health. This study focused on investigating the association between mothers' emotional intelligence (EI) and paediatric type I diabetes (T1DM) disease management in their children. We hypothesized that mothers' EI is associated with T1DM outcomes. Mothers of children with T1DM aged 6-12 years were surveyed. One hundred and thirty-four mothers, the main caregivers of their diabetic children, provided measures of EI and completed a demographic questionnaire. The primary indicator of diabetes management was haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c; the main form of glycosylated haemoglobin). EI scales and subscales were associated with glycaemic management indices. Logistic regression analysis was applied for the assessment of the association between parents' EI and their paediatric with T1DM disease management. The analysis demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between T1DM management and mothers' ability to understand and control own emotions, to transform their own negative emotions into positive and to control own negative emotions. Mothers' EI scales and subscales of understanding and regulating their own emotions, subscales of transforming their own negative emotions into positive ones and controlling their own negative emotions were statistically reliable predictors of glycaemic control in children with T1DM.
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