P-387: Comparison of depression and anxiety symptom scores in type 1 diabetes patients with healthy controls

Introduction

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a chronic condition requiring lifelong management that may impact mental health in children and adolescents.However, the extent to which T1DM independently contributes to psychiatric symptom burden remains unclear.

Objectives

To compare depression and anxiety symptom scores between pediatric T1DM patients and healthy controls, and examine associations with sociodemographic and clinical variables including glycemic control.

Methods

This cross-sectional comparative study enrolled 60 children and adolescents with T1DM and 77 healthy controls.Depression was assessed using the Children’s Depression Inventory, and anxiety using the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale.One-year average HbA1c was calculated from quarterly measurements.Group comparisons employed Mann-Whitney U tests, and correlations were examined using Pearson and Spearman methods.

Results

No significant differences were found between T1DM and control groups across all psychiatric parameters.

In the T1DM group, higher maternal education correlated with lower major depressive behavior scores (r = −0.262, p = 0.044), and lower socioeconomic status correlated with higher generalized anxiety scores (r = 0.289, p = 0.025). HbA1c (mean 8.53%) showed no significant correlations with any psychiatric measure.Strong depression-anxiety comorbidity was observed across the full sample (r = 0.630, p < 0.001). Paradoxically, T1DM patients with hypoglycemia awareness exhibited higher anxiety scores than those without awareness (p = 0.026).

Conclusions

Children and adolescents with T1DM demonstrate depression and anxiety levels comparable to healthy peers, suggesting that with appropriate medical follow-up and psychosocial support, T1DM diagnosis alone does not confer increased psychiatric risk.However, socioeconomic factors significantly influence mental health outcomes in T1DM patients, underscoring the importance of addressing social determinants in comprehensive diabetes care.