Type 1 Diabetes: Dyadic Health Behaviors and Communal Coping as Predictors of Glycemic Control Among Emerging Adult Couples - Abstract Emerging adulthood is a time when persons with type 1 diabetes (PWD) make major transitions into committed relationships. T1D partners (T1DP) play an important role in diabetes management during emerging adulthood in providing (or not) support. Although studies have demonstrated significant distress in PWD and T1DP, research has not examined the dyadic environment of diabetes management in relation to blood glucose. There is a critical need to identify how (a) dyadic health behaviors and (b) the dyadic communal coping of couples with T1D benefit diabetes management during emerging adulthood. Establishing patterns of health behaviors and dyadic T1D management routines that improve glycemic control during emerging adulthood are crucial as these patterns are likely to carry into adulthood. Our long-term goal is to develop dyadic behavioral interventions that facilitate healthy T1D management and decrease complications among emerging adults with T1D. Our overall objective is to identify how daily T1DP health behaviors (sleep health, physical activity, nutrition) and communal coping relate to glucose outcomes. We will test our central hypotheses that healthy partner behaviors and supportive communal coping will predict better glycemic control. We use daily diary and EMA methods to explore how partner health behaviors and communal coping relate to average glucose, time- in-range, and return to euglycemia following hypo/hyperglycemic excursions. The proposed study targets novel avenues of improving blood glucose outcomes in a critical period of life for those with T1D. To achieve this objective, we will (1) Identify how daily partner health behaviors relate to PWD glycemic control among 200 couples, across 14 days and (2) Identify partner communal coping behaviors during acute hypo/hyperglycemic events that facilitate timely return to euglycemia. The expected outcomes will demonstrate how partner communal coping during hypo/hyperglycemic events support a healthy return to euglycemia. It is urgent to examine the dyadic strategies of couples facing T1D at the critical developmental period of emerging adulthood when long-term partnerships and lifelong health habits are first formed. The proposed study is significant because it will provide the first dyadic evidence about this critically important period when PWD form lasting diabetes care habits in committed relationships. Ultimately, such knowledge has the potential to help set the stage for better PWD health outcomes in mid and later life.
