In this study, we will recruit 180 adolescents and young adults (ages 14-25) with type 1 diabetes for at least 1 year and suboptimal diabetes control (A1c 7-13%) to participate in a 2-year randomized clinical trial aimed at reducing diabetes distress and improving glycemic outcomes. Adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes represent a population that often has uncontrolled diabetes with elevated A1c levels and experiences diabetes distress, making such patients ideal for this study. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups (control or intervention). The intervention group will participate in monthly intervention sessions with a research assistant during the first year of the study. Four sessions will focus on improving glycemic outcomes and 8 sessions will focus on reducing diabetes distress. The sessions will be conducted face-to-face or remotely. To ensure adequate recruitment and retention, the control group will participate in the intervention sessions during the second year of the study. Participants in both groups will use continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), with CGM data downloaded every 3 months. Participants in both groups will complete surveys and have A1c measured every 6 months. We will compare the two groups on percent time in target glucose range (70-180 mg/dL), A1c, and diabetes distress from baseline to 1 year. We hypothesize that the intervention group will have an improvement in percent time in range, A1c, and diabetes distress, compared with the control group.
In this 2-year randomized clinical trial, we will implement and assess the impact of a behavioral/psychoeducational intervention to reduce diabetes distress and improve glycemic outcomes in adolescents and young adults, aged 14-25 years, with T1D in order to optimize their short-term and long-term health.