A pilot randomized controlled trial of a gratitude intervention for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes
An eight-week gratitude journalling programme for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes produced no measurable difference in stress, quality of life, self-care, depression or gratitude itself - though glycaemic control stayed stable in the gratitude group while drifting upward in the control group.
A well-run trial where gratitude journalling did not improve a single psychological outcome.
Eighty adolescents aged 10 to 16 with Type 1 diabetes were randomised to an eight-week gratitude intervention or standard care. Self-reported stress, quality of life, self-care, depression and gratitude were measured at baseline and eight weeks; glycaemic control at baseline and twelve weeks.
There was no evidence of any between-group difference in the psychological or behavioural measures - all p-values above 0.05.
Glycaemic control slightly increased in the control group while remaining stable in the gratitude group. After adjusting for baseline, that difference reached significance at p = 0.048.
Why this is in the library. It is a null result in a population where a positive one would have been widely quoted, and p = 0.048 on a single adjusted secondary outcome is exactly the kind of finding that gets overstated elsewhere. The authors do not overstate it: they call gratitude journalling a clinically usable approach and say if and how it helps remains to be confirmed.
Every psychological and behavioural outcome came back null. The single positive finding, on glycaemic control, only reached significance after adjusting for baseline and sits inside a confidence interval that crosses no difference on the unadjusted comparison. It is a pilot with 80 adolescents, and the authors say plainly that whether and how it helps remains to be confirmed.
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Summarized by Tiago Martins · Last updated: · How we write these
