The effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy on improving intrapsychic conflicts, disease acceptance, and glycosylated hemoglobin levels in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes

Abstract :

Considering the prevalence of Type 1 diabetes, the present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in improving intrapsychic conflicts, disease acceptance, and HbA1c levels in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. The research design was a semi-experimental pre-test/post-test study with a two-month follow-up, including both experimental and control groups. Forty adolescents (ages 12 to 18) diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, who visited the Diabetes Association of Iran in Tehran in the first half of 2024, were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group received 10 to 20 sessions of ISTDP on an individual basis, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the modified version of the 2020 Intrapsychic Conflicts Questionnaire, the Iranian version of the Diabetes Acceptance Questionnaire (2023), and HbA1c blood tests. Repeated measures ANOVA results revealed that ISTDP significantly reduced intrapsychic conflicts at both post-test (P< 0.001) and follow-up (P<0.05), increased diabetes acceptance at post-test (P < 0.001) and follow-up (P<0.01), and decreased HbA1c levels at post-test (P<0.001) and follow-up (P<0.05) in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. Therefore, it is recommended to use intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy as either the primary treatment or as a complementary intervention alongside other therapeutic approaches to address psychological and physical challenges in adolescents with Type 1 diabetes.

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