Publications by authors named "Vicki S Helgeson"

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are metabolic disorders that require one to manage one's blood glucose levels on a daily basis through a series of behaviorally complex tasks. Research shows that psychosocial factors, including mood, stress, and social relationships, have a significant influence on one's ability to maintain these disease management routines and achieve healthy blood glucose levels. However, researchers have typically approached these questions from a between-person perspective.

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Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the associations between type 2 diabetes or prediabetes and loneliness and related social experiences in young adults, a population at increasingly high risk of type 2 diabetes.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis using data from adults aged 18-35 years enrolled in the All of Us Research Program. Exposures included loneliness, social support, discrimination, neighborhood social cohesion, and stress, measured by standardized surveys.

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Introduction: Communal coping is an interpersonal coping strategy defined as the appraisal of a problem as shared and collaboration to manage it. Despite evidence establishing links of communal coping to health, few interventions have involved communal coping. This study seeks to establish proof of concept that an intervention rooted in communal coping theory can impact couple members' communal coping and intermediary outcomes.

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Objective: We examined the links of supportive and conflictual peer interactions to mood and self-care via ecological momentary assessment.

Method: Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes ( = 167, 49% female) recruited between 2018 and 2021 were prompted 8 times a day for 8 days to complete brief surveys that measured perceived social interactions, affect, and self-care.

Results: Cross-sectional analyses revealed between- and within-person (WP) links of peer support to positive mood and conflict to negative mood.

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We compared the romantic relationships of emerging adults with type 1 diabetes to those without type 1 diabetes. We examined whether there were group differences in romantic relationships and relationship quality and whether aspects of romantic relationships were connected to psychological and diabetes health. Emerging adults (mean age 27 years) with ( = 88) and without ( = 99) type 1 diabetes took part in the study.

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Objective: The goal of the study was to examine the relations of general and diabetes-specific friend support and conflict to psychological and diabetes health among youth with type 1 diabetes. We examined gender as a moderator of these relations, and friend responsiveness and information-sharing as potential mediators.

Methods: Youth with type 1 diabetes (n = 167; M age 15.

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Research has increasingly recognized the links of communal coping-a shared appraisal of a stressor and collaborative action to manage it-to positive adjustment outcomes in chronic illness. However, past literature rarely examines if these two components have unique links to relationship and health outcomes, if one component is more strongly linked than the other component to these outcomes, or if the two components interact to influence outcomes. Additionally, the impact of shared appraisal and collaboration may depend on the source-the patient or the romantic partner.

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Family members and friends play an important supportive role in the management of chronic illnesses like diabetes, which often require substantial lifestyle changes. Some studies suggest that there may be racial differences in the kinds of support people receive, though little research has examined this idea within a chronic illness context. The current research takes a qualitative approach to examining similarities and differences between Black and White individuals with type 2 diabetes in the dimensions of support received from their family members, with a particular focus on better understanding more intrusive forms of support, such as unsolicited and overprotective support.

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While affect is linked to a number of diabetes outcomes, the specific role of positive affect (PA) in HbA1c remains unclear. The present study examined whether PA prospectively predicted lower HbA1c among adults with type 2 diabetes and whether this relation was moderated by stress. Participants were 123 adults (44.

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Managing type 1 diabetes involves coordinating complex daily behaviors that may rely on the cognitive abilities of people with diabetes (PWD) and spouses, especially as couples collaborate surrounding diabetes care. The aims of the study were to examine whether ) the cognitive abilities of PWD and their spouses predicted lower A1C, ) collaborating with a spouse with higher cognitive abilities was especially beneficial for PWD with lower cognitive abilities, and ) the benefit of the cognitive abilities of PWD and their spouse occurred through better self-care. Couples ( = 199) were recruited with one member diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (PWD 52% female sex, average age 46.

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The literature on the role of peer support for psychological well-being and disease management among youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) is mixed. In this topical review, we use self-determination theory (SDT) as a framework to understand the conditions under which peer support is helpful or unhelpful regarding psychological well-being and diabetes management. We briefly review the literature to support our claim that existing research on peer support is inconsistent.

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Objectives: We examined links between sleep quality and psychological distress among couples dealing with type 1 diabetes (T1D) across cross-sectional and daily diary methods and investigated whether relationship satisfaction moderated these associations.

Methods: 199 persons with T1D and their spouses completed survey questionnaires reporting their own sleep quality, depressive symptoms, and relationship satisfaction. They also completed 14-day diaries reporting their own sleep quality and negative affect.

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The stress of diabetes management not only affects persons with type 1 diabetes (PWD) but also their social network. We examined the extent to which romantic partners of PWD (n = 199) identified their most significant daily stressor as diabetes-related (i.e.

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Objective: There is evidence that youth with type 1 diabetes are at risk for depression, and depression is a significant risk factor for subsequent psychological and physical health problems. However, it is not clear if/when this depression risk emerges. The goal of this study was to determine if there are differences in levels of depressive symptoms between youth with and without type 1 diabetes that develop over the course of emerging adulthood.

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Researchers have recognized the role of social environment in diabetes management, with substantial attention directed toward spouses or romantic partners of people with diabetes. However, the specific ways in which partners are involved have not been articulated. This study, which included 207 couples in which one person was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, used a mixed-methods approach to assess types of partner involvement in diabetes management.

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Objective: Friendships and romantic relationships are important sources of support that contribute to well-being for youth across adolescence and emerging adulthood and may be especially important for those with a chronic illness. We examined gender differences in trajectories of peer relationships among those with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and how they differ from those without.

Methods: Individuals with T1D (N = 132) and controls (N = 131) completed questionnaires across 11 years (M age = 12 years at baseline).

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Objective: Communal coping with a chronic illness has been associated with better health outcomes and includes two components: an individual's appraisal of the illness as shared and collaborative strategies to manage the illness. Although multiple methods have been used to assess these constructs, there is limited understanding of whether these methods tap similar components of communal coping. The study goals were to assess how individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes communally cope with their romantic partner using multiple methods to (a) distinguish between the two components of communal coping and (b) examine links of both components to health outcomes and test whether interactions between the two are linked to health outcomes.

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Objective: Diabetes technology has improved the lives of people with diabetes (PWD), but there is little research on how insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) affect couples' relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine how the use of diabetes technology affects couple interactions.

Methods: In a secondary data analysis, we used a multiple-method qualitative analysis, including a constant-comparison approach, to examine similarities and differences in couple interactions related to diabetes technology.

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Aims: Daily diabetes stressful events take a toll on individuals with type 1 diabetes, and these experiences may look different across adulthood. The aims of the current study were to understand the nature of daily diabetes stress across adulthood and explore whether these experiences differed by age.

Methods: In this qualitative study, adults with T1D (N = 199, M  = 46.

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The majority of observed couple communication research has focused on physically healthy couples and those who are White, educated, and affluent. In the present study, we observed persons with Type 2 diabetes and their romantic partners discuss how to improve diabetes management; afterward, we measured positive affect, negative affect, and discussion evaluations. We also measured mood and self-care behavior over the next 2 weeks.

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Previous research linking collaboration to relationship and health outcomes has relied almost exclusively on individual self-report and failed to take into consideration the dyadic nature of collaboration. We enrolled couples ( = 193) in which one person had Type 1 diabetes (52% female; 91% non-Hispanic white) into the study and asked them to discuss a diabetes-related issue of high concern for 8 min. These videotaped interactions were coded for dyadic collaboration.

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Youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) must adhere to a complex treatment regimen to prevent health complications. Friends may provide diabetes-specific support to help youth manage diabetes, but evidence on whether youth benefit from diabetes-specific friend support is inconclusive. The present study first investigated whether satisfaction with friend support was linked to psychological distress and diabetes management.

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In the context of a chronic illness such as Type 1 diabetes (T1D), managing general stressors may be linked to diabetes-specific stressors for persons with T1D, an intraindividual contagion phenomenon (i.e., spillover).

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Feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and frustrated by the daily demands of diabetes management has been referred to as diabetes burnout. The goal of the study was to develop a measure of diabetes burnout and to link this measure to psychological health and diabetes outcomes. Emerging adults with type 1 diabetes (n = 88, average age 27) completed an online questionnaire and an HbA1c assessment; a subset was interviewed by phone to obtain a more in-depth understanding of burnout.

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