Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety and blood glycemic control in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

This study examined the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on social anxiety and blood sugar control in children with type I diabetes Mellitus. For this purpose, 38 children affected by diabetes Mellitus type 1, living in Tehran, were selected randomly and were divided into the experiment group (n = 19) and control group (n = 19). In this investigation, clinical trial method of pre-test and post-test types with control group was used. The measuring tools included the Children Symptom Inventory, Parent Form (CSI-4) and HbA1C test, which were used before and after the treatment. Then, in order to investigate the experimental group, 12 sessions of 45 minutes cognitive-behavioral therapy were conducted. For analyzing the data, a univariate and a multivariate covariance analysis were used. The results showed a significant difference between the experiment group and control group in terms of the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioral therapy on the variables under study. As such, cognitive–behavioral therapy reduced the social anxiety and improved the blood glycemic control in the group which received cognitive–behavioral therapy, relative to the control group. The results of the investigation also showed that, along with other available treatments, the cognitive-behavioral therapy can be considered as one of the new effective remedial intervention, especially in children affected by diabetes.