57-LB: Daily Communal Coping and Blood Glucose in Young Adult Couples with Type 1 Diabetes

Young adulthood is a time when persons with type 1 diabetes (PWD) become more fully responsible for diabetes management. Establishing healthy diabetes routines during this period is foundational for successful management across adulthood, yet this age group experiences higher HbA1c levels and more frequent diabetes-related hospital visits than any other age group. New partnered relationships during young adulthood may play a crucial role in mitigating these risks. Long-term married couples with type 1 diabetes report poorer outcomes (lower self-care, lower physical health and higher HbA1c) when they report greater critical and overprotective behaviors from their spouse (Helgeson et al., 2019). Daily collaboration and support may be associated with poorer self-care (Berg et al., 2020). The objective of this study was to examine associations between daily communal coping and PWD blood glucose. Twenty-four young married couples (ages 20-37, M=25.7 years) wherein one spouse had T1D completed daily measures of communal coping (i.e., emotional support, instrumental support, over-protective behavior, illness avoidance, and controlling behavior) for 9 consecutive days. Daily average blood glucose and time-in-range were computed from PWD glucose meter or continuous blood glucose monitor. Results from multilevel models suggested that higher within-person (person mean centered) instrumental support (b = -1.38, p=.002) and overprotective (b = -1.36, p=.025) or controlling (b = -1.86, p=.027) spousal behaviors predicted lower PWD time-in-range. Higher between-person (grand-mean centered) overprotective spousal behaviors predicted higher PWD daily average blood glucose (b = 32.20, p=.002). Findings suggest that some young romantic partners may engage in behaviors that are associated with higher average PWD blood glucose and lower time-in-range.