Financial Stress in Emerging Adults with Type 1 Diabetes in the United States.

Blanchette, Julia E; Toly, Valerie B; Wood, Jamie R

OBJECTIVE To describe the relationships among financial stress factors (perceived stress, financial stress, and financial independence) and psychological factors (depressive symptoms, trait anxiety, and diabetes distress) on self-management outcomes (HbA1c and diabetes-related quality of life) in emerging adults with type 1 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional study examined413 emerging adults, ages 18-25, from the Type 1 Diabetes Exchange Clinic Registry. Data were collected viaREDCap surveys using the Personal Financial Well-Being Scale, Willingness to Pay Scale, Financial Independence Visual Analog Scale, Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, The Type 1 Diabetes Distress Scale, and Diabetes Quality of Life Measure. Hierarchical Multiple Regression analyses explored significant barriers to self-management outcomes. RESULTS Hierarchical Multiple Regression analyses revealed that 20.6% of variance in HbA1c (F=15.555, p<.001) was explained by greater financial stress (β=-.197, p<.001), willingness to pay (β=-.220, p < .001), disease duration (β = .119, p = .014), and diabetes distress (β=.181, p<.001); 64.5% of the variance in diabetes-related quality of life (F=148.469, p<.001) wassignificantly explained by greater financial stress (β=-.112, p = .002), diabetes distress (β=.512, p<.001), trait anxiety (β=.183, p=.001) and depressive symptoms (β=.162, p=.001). CONCLUSIONS Greater financial stress and psychological factors have detrimental impacts on self-management outcomes during emerging adulthood. Diabetes providers need to identify and address these factors in routine care and advocate for policy changes to support improved self-management outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.