Psychological support for adolescents with type 1 diabetes provided by adolescents with type 1 diabetes: The chat line experience

Background: Age-specific preventive interventions by exploiting age-appropriate means are needed to effectively support adolescents with type 1 diabetes in facing illness and developmental-related difficulties. The provision of social support through a content analysis of messages posted on online conversations was examined. Methods: Participants and moderators' messages posted to an Italian online chat group for adolescents with type 1 diabetes were content analyzed using a social support behavior coding system. Results: Of 250 adolescents approached (aged 12-18), 161 (64.4%) agreed to participate. Seventeen thousand twenty-five individual posts (10 735 written by participants, 6290 by moderators) from 37 chat sessions were examined. Topics concerned management of the disease, diabetes-related problems, nutrition, and the emotional impact of diabetes. Social support was found in 30.64% of the messages (N = 5215). The frequency of supporting messages posted by participants was significantly higher than those written by moderators (X2 = 20.025, P <.0001). Participants most frequently offered emotional (79.97%) and information support (16.21%), while moderators presented information (52.89%) and emotional support (34.56%). Conclusions: How posting messages in an online group provides an opportunity for adolescents with type 1 diabetes to support each other and help health professionals to learn about the experiences of young individuals is discussed.