Contemporary roles of the pediatric psychologist in diabetes care
Abstract
Important stakeholders, including the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), recognize the need for psychologists to be an integral part of diabetes care. This review paper aims to provide a comprehensive examination of pediatric psychologists' roles in working with children and adolescents with diabetes, including during distinct phases of treatment (e.g., diagnosis, outpatient diabetes clinic visits, inpatient hospitalizations, and outpatient psychology visits) and with different modalities of psychological interventions (e.g., screening, individual, family, and group therapy). In addition, the role of the psychologist in diabetes care within various settings (e.g., private practice, academic medical centers, and community organizations) will be explored. Finally, this paper will outline other roles in which psychologists contribute to diabetes-specific efforts (e.g., translational research, program development in transition to adult care, advocacy for health care reform initiatives, health care billing/reimbursement, and alternative methods to psychosocial care delivery) as well as future directions for working with children and adolescents with diabetes. Pediatric psychologists have multiple professional roles in a wide variety of settings; however, there is more that can be done in the future to fully utilize pediatric psychologists in diabetes care for children and adolescents, such as embedding psychologists into integrated clinic visits where families receive comprehensive medical and psychological services to support overall health and well-being. Therefore, there is a need for increased advocacy to obtain even more pediatric psychology engagement in diabetes care to provide new clinical services and develop more translational research.
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Health behavior change strategies may be delivered by mental health professionals, DCES, other trained health care professionals, or qualified community health workers.
“Health behavior change strategies may be delivered by mental health professionals, DCES, or other trained health care professionals (307,312-314) or qualified community health workers (307,308).”
From 5. Facilitating Positive Health Behaviors and Well-being to Improve Health Outcomes:<i>Standards of Care in Diabetes—2023</i> (2023) · cites this paper as [314]
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“This may require referral to a psychological care provider, who can teach problem-solving skills and other behavioral strategies to support device uptake and sustained use.(262)”
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Self-citation14. Children and Adolescents: Standards of Care in Diabetes—2026
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“Specifically, they bring unique expertise in building stress management skills to manage feelings of diabetes burden and burnout, such as applying problem-solving skills to T1D stressors and challenging distorted health-related cognitions.(55)”
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“Pediatric psychologists and mental health professionals on diabetes care teams are ideally situated to support youth with T1D and their parents to strengthen SR and apply those skills to adverse situations, including diabetes-specific challenges and other stressors (Kichler et al., 2015).”
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Profiles of Depressive Symptoms and Diabetes Distress in Preadolescents With Type 1 Diabetes
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“…et al., 2018), psychosocial screening is becoming a more common practice within pediatric diabetes care (de Wit et al., 2014; Guttmann-Bauman et al., 2018) and pediatric psychologists increasingly offer consultation-liaison services within pediatric diabetes clinics (Kichler et al., 2015).”
Vassilopoulos, A., Valenzuela, J. M., Tsikis, J., Reitblat, L., Blanco, E. J., Nicholls, S., & Wolf, R. M. (2019) · Children s Health Care · doi:10.1080/02739615.2019.1653763 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“First, the study included a small number of mental health providers’ referral practices, though these practices were consistent with screening and referral practices across multidisciplinary pediatric diabetes centers (Kichler et al., 2015).”
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“and meaning of the biopsychosocial model and culturally humble care.(50) Though few studies exist, it has been shown that culturally tailored interventions have”
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“As suggested, a better solution is to include a mental health professional on the treatment team, who could coordinate screening, review results, offer consultations with patients, provide brief interventions and patient education, direct patients toward appropriate resources for support, and build patient motivation…”
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Psicologia e Diabetes no Brasil: Um Mapeamento de Profissionais e de suas Ações
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“Additionally, mental health professionals can support patients by teaching coping techniques, self-management strategies, fostering positive family dynamics, guiding social skills to seek support, and applying behavioural strategies to help achieve self-management goals [29].”
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Kichler, J., Harris, M., & Weissberg-Benchell, J.
- Affiliations
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (US)
- Venue
- Current Diabetes Reviews
- Publisher
- Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
- Published
- 2015-07-29
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 210-221
- ISSN
- 1573-3998 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2269028355
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 2.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Diabetes Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Education
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Diabetes Management and Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Speech and Hearing › Adolescent and Pediatric Healthcare
- Keywords
- pediatric psychologists, pediatric diabetes, children and adolescents with diabetes, psychological intervention, diabetes screening, family therapy, group therapy, transition to adult care, translational research
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Age Factors, Child, Child Behavior, Combined Modality Therapy, Cooperative Behavior, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Humans, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Patient Care Team, Health Behavior, Treatment Outcome, Patient-Centered Care, Professional Role, Interdisciplinary Communication
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