Web-mediated psychological intervention for adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes: a systematic review

Type 1 diabetes is a complex chronic illness that requires daily care-management and constant psychological adaptation. In adolescence and young adulthood, the crossover between the developmental challenges and the daily demands of the disease may cause poor psychological and physical outcomes. In light of the recent momentous rise in psychological online treatment, this systematic review explores the field of web-mediated psychological intervention for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with type 1 diabetes, thus aiming to identify the components of effective online treatment. A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. We systematically searched the literature published between 2014 and 2024 from EBSCO (APA PsycArticles, APAPsycInfo; Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection; MEDLINE), PUBMED, and SCOPUS. The Quality assessment tool for quantitative studies was used to rate the quality of the articles. Eight eligible studies were included in the review. Telehealth is effective on disease-management and psychosocial outcomes. However, mixed results emerged on psychological outcomes. The interventions are effective on diabetes-distress; however, the results on depressive and anxiety symptoms show some limitations. Overall, the interventions reached high acceptability and feasibility. Despite the paucity of data, results suggest that web-mediated interventions are a viable way to support the psychological needs of young diabetics. The inclusion of psychosocial support components may further enhance the efficacy of the intervention, addressing the needs of social support for young diabetics. This review has some operative implications, giving useful insight into designing personalized interventions within this population. However, more research is needed.