2282-PUB: Differences in Child Psychosocial Functioning According to Diabetes and Weight Status

Children with diabetes may be expected to experience greater psychosocial difficulty than children without chronic diseases, however less is known about how this varies according to weight status. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in child psychosocial functioning among children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in comparison to children with overweight and obesity. Methods: Parents of children age 2-17 years were invited to participate in this online survey study. Parents reported child demographics, chronic disease diagnoses, body size, and completed the parent version of the 35-item Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC). Children were classified into 4 groups based on diagnosis of T1D, and then according to BMI percentile. ANOVA was used to compare PSC total score and internalizing, externalizing, and attention subscales between groups. Multiple regression was used to examine the contribution of T1D diagnosis, age, gender, and BMI percentile to PSC total score. Results: A total of 133 children were included in the analysis (mean age 9.7 + 3.1 years, 48.9% girls). PSC total score was highest among children with T1D (54.25 + 17.9) followed by children with obesity (48.1 + 16.6), comparison (46.6 + 12.4), and overweight children (43.8 + 14.0); however, these differences did not reach statistical significance. Comparison children demonstrated higher externalizing and internalizing subscale scores than did overweight children, while the highest attention subscale score was found among children with obesity. The strongest predictor of PSC total score was T1D (unstandardized B = 9.4; p=0.03). Discussion: No differences were found in psychosocial functioning among this sample. Trends in the data suggest that the presence of T1D, and potentially obesity, may be associated with worse psychosocial functioning among children. However, additional studies are needed to confirm. Disclosure E.H. Guseman: None. M.K. Englert: None. J. Whipps: None. M. Schulze: None. E.A. Beverly: None.