Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fear of Hypoglycemia in Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

  • Published:
Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current study examined fear of hypoglycemia in 81 mothers and 64 fathers of young children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) using the Hypoglycemia Fear Survey-Parents of Young Children (HFS-P-YC possible range = 26–130). Mothers and fathers completed the HFS-P-YC at enrollment and mothers completed it 2 weeks later. Families recorded daily blood glucose on a standardized meter for 2 weeks. Mothers’ mean total HFS-P-YC score was 75.0 (SD = 17.2) and fathers’ mean score was 66.5 (SD = 18.0). Mothers reported greater HFS-P-YC total and behavior subscale scores than fathers. Mothers’ HFS-P-YC scores were comparable to published HFS scores for mothers of preadolescents with T1DM and higher than adult patients with T1DM. The HFS-P-YC had good internal consistency and test–retest reliability in this sample. These findings suggest parents of young children with T1DM report a high level of fear of hypoglycemia. Additionally, the HFS-P-YC appears to be a reliable measure in this population.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Diabetes Association. (2005). Defining and reporting hypoglycemia in diabetes: A report from the American Diabetes Association Workgroup on Hypoglycemia. Diabetes Care, 28, 1245–1249. doi:10.2337/diacare.28.5.1245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amos, A. F., McCarty, D. J., & Zimmet, P. (1997). The rising global burden of diabetes and its complications: Estimates and projections to the year 2010. Diabetic Medicine, 14(Suppl 5), S1–S85. doi :10.1002/(SICI)1096-9136(199712)14:5+<S7::AID-DIA522>3.3.CO;2-I.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, W. L., Gonder-Frederick, A., Snyder, A. L., & Cox, D. J. (1998). Maternal fear of hypoglycemia in their children with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 11(Suppl 1), 189–194.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cox, D. J., Irvine, A., Gonder-Frederick, L., Nowacek, G., & Butterfield, J. (1987). Fear of hypoglycemia: Quantification, validation, and utilization. Diabetes Care, 10, 617–621. doi:10.2337/diacare.10.5.617.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dahlquist, G., & Mustonen, L. (2000). Analysis of 20 years of prospective registration of childhood onset diabetes – time trends and birth cohort effects. Swedish Childhood Diabetes Study Group. Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway), 89, 1231–1237. doi:10.1080/080352500750027628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonder-Frederick, L. A., Fisher, C. D., Ritterband, L. M., Cox, D. J., Hou, L., DasGupta, A. A., et al. (2006). Predictors of fear of hypoglycemia in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parents. Pediatric Diabetes, 7, 215–222. doi:10.1111/j.1399-5448.2006.00182.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Irvine, A. A., Cox, D., & Gonder-Frederick, L. (1992). Fear of hypoglycemia: Relationship to physical and psychological symptoms in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Health Psychology, 11, 135–138. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.11.2.135.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Irvine, A. A., Cox, D., & Gonder-Frederick, L. (1994). The Fear of Hypoglycemia Scale. In C. Bradley (Ed.), The handbook of psychology and diabetes (pp. 133–155). Great Britain: Harwood Academic Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaufman, F. R., Austin, J., Lloyd, J., Halvorson, M., Carpenter, S., & Pitukcheewanont, P. (2002). Characteristics of glycemic control in young children with type 1 diabetes. Pediatric Diabetes, 3, 179–183. doi:10.1034/j.1399-5448.2002.30402.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Linscheid, T., Budd, K., & Rasnake, L. (2003). Pediatric feeding disorders. In M. Roberts (Ed.), Handbook of pediatric psychology (3rd ed., pp. 481–498). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marrero, D. G., Guare, J. C., Vandagriff, J. L., & Fineberg, N. S. (1997). Fear of hypoglycemia in the parents of children and adolescents with diabetes: Maladaptive or healthy response? The Diabetes Educator, 23, 281–286. doi:10.1177/014572179702300306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, S. R., Dolan, L. M., Henry, R., & Powers, S. W. (2007). Parental fear of hypoglycemia: Young children treated with continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. Pediatric Diabetes, 8, 362–368. doi:10.1111/j.1399-5448.2007.00242.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, C., Gurtunca, N., & Becker, D. (2005). Hypoglycemia: A complication of diabetes therapy in children. Pediatric Clinician North America, 52, 1705–1733. doi:10.1016/j.pcl.2005.08.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silverstein, J., Klingensmith, G., Copeland, K., Plotnick, L., Kaufman, F., Laffel, L., et al. (2005). Care of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: A statement of the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care, 28, 186–212. doi:10.2337/diacare.28.1.186.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Deatrick, J., Gruppuso, P., Tamborlane, W., & Grey, M. (2002). Mothers’ experiences raising young children with type 1 diabetes. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 7, 93–103. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6155.2002.tb00158.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Deatrick, J., Gruppuso, P., Tamborlane, W., & Grey, M. (2003a). Constant vigilance: Mothers’ work parenting young children with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 18, 21–29. doi:10.1053/jpdn.2003.4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Knafl, K., Deatrick, J., & Grey, M. (2003b). Maternal management behaviors for young children with type 1 diabetes. MCN. The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 28, 160–166. doi:10.1097/00005721-200305000-00005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Rosenberg, R., & Bayard, M. (2006). Fathers’ reflections on parenting young children with type 1 diabetes. MCN. The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 31, 24–31. doi:10.1097/00005721-200601000-00007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by grants R01-DK54915 and K24-DK59973 (to S.W.P.) and grant F32-DK61121 (to S.R.P.) from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. We thank TheraSense for their donation of FreeStyle blood glucose meters, software, and testing supplies. We thank Dr Morton Brown, School of Public Health, University of Michigan for his assistance in conducting our statistical analyses.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Child Behavioral Health, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and the University of Michigan, 1924 Taubman Center, SPC 5318, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-5318, USA

    Susana R. Patton

  2. Division of Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Lawrence M. Dolan

  3. Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Racquel Henry & Scott W. Powers

  4. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Lawrence M. Dolan & Scott W. Powers

Authors
  1. Susana R. Patton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lawrence M. Dolan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Racquel Henry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Scott W. Powers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susana R. Patton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Patton, S.R., Dolan, L.M., Henry, R. et al. Fear of Hypoglycemia in Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 15, 252–259 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-008-9123-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-008-9123-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation