From Genetic Risk Awareness to Overt Type 1 Diabetes: Parental stress in a placebo-controlled prevention trial

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychological burden of parents facing increasing risk of type 1 diabetes in their children. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In the population-based Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Study, newborn infants with HLA-DQB1–conferred diabetes risk were enrolled in sequential analyses of diabetes-associated autoantibodies. Those persistently positive for at least two autoantibodies were recruited to a randomized double-blinded intervention trial. The experience of stress in parents of 664 children was measured using Parenting Stress Index self-report inventory. RESULTS: While diagnosis of diabetes increased parental stress, the appearance of autoantibodies or participation in the intervention trial did not. Mothers had higher stress levels than fathers. Single parenthood and chronically ill family members increased parental stress. CONCLUSIONS: Parental stress was not increased by notification of autoantibody positivity or by participation in an intervention trial. Other demanding family conditions contributed to the experience of stress.