Psychosocial Assessment Tools for Youth with Type 1 Diabetes: a 10-Year Review

There is a notable lack of consistency in the measurement of psychosocial factors affecting youth with type 1 diabetes, resulting in a need for increased measurement standardization and establishment of measures tailored to capture unique experiences faced by youth. This review sought to assess 10 years of extant literature (2011 to 2020) to identify which established measurement tools are commonly used and to evaluate new measurement tools that were introduced during this period.

There are a variety of psychosocial factors affecting youth, and assessment of these measures has shown substantial variability. Our review found that most frequently cited scales were those pertaining to self-efficacy, diabetes distress, family conflict, autonomy, and fear of hypoglycemia. During our review period, experts developed and validated 21 new scales, the majority of which sought to evaluate areas pertaining to diabetes distress. Of the common scales and newly developed scales identified in this review, psychometric properties showcase high reliability and validity, and items are becoming increasingly specific to youth but still lack assessment of how youth perceive technology's impact on diabetes management. The field would benefit from measures employing more nuanced age specificity and addressing technology usage.