The Effectiveness of Transdiagnostic Treatment Program on Improving the Quality of Life and Reducing Depression in Children with Type 1 Diabetes: An Experimental Study

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common chronic diseases in children, which potentially threatens their life. This disease affects the mood, personality, and emotions of children and families. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the transdiagnostic treatment program (TTP) on improving the quality of life and reducing depression in children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).

This experimental study has been done on 22 children with T1D who were referred to two medical centers located in Tehran, Iran in 2020. The patients were randomized into 2 groups; 1) intervention with TTP (n=10, 15 sessions, 60-minute ‎) and 2) control (n=12). The Child Depression Inventory and the Pediatric Quality of Life Questionnaire, before, after, and one month following treatment filled out by participants.

Our findings revealed that the intervention group showed a significant decrease in the mean of the variable of depression (-0.66 vs. -0.15, P<0.001) and an increase in quality of life components such as physical functioning (0.71 vs. 0.1, P<0.001), emotional functioning (0.74 vs. -0.02, P<0.001), social performance (0.56 vs. 0.02, P<0.001) and school performance (0.68 vs. 0.15, P<0.001) compared to the control group.

The results of the present study showed that TTP will be an effective method to reduce depression and increase the quality of life of children with TD1.