"I've Always Wanted to Find That Peace That Everyone Talks About with Mindfulness": The Development of an Asynchronous Mindfulness-Training Mobile Health Application for Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes.

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes report high stress and anxiety, which can affect glycemic outcomes. An 8-week mHealth mindfulness-training intervention delivered via the Appricate© application, based on MBSR principles, was tested in a pilot qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescents aged 12–19 revealed five themes: initial appeal, usability, engagement, user outcomes, and recommendations. Participants described the app as well made and easy to use, with engaging lessons. Reported benefits included improved sleep, stress and anxiety management, and better ability to manage school and after-school activities. Participants also suggested additional content and personalization options.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D) report increased stress and anxiety in comparison to their peers, which may result in out-of-range glycemic outcomes. Complementary therapies such as mindfulness may improve stress and anxiety. However, mindfulness training is mostly delivered in-person for adolescents. As adolescents with T1D are high consumers of technology, with busy schedules that impede their ability to complete in-person training, we designed an mHealth application, Appricate©, to deliver mindfulness-training. The goal of this pilot study was to qualitatively describe the experience of participating in an 8-week mHealth mindfulness-training intervention based on the principles of MBSR, Appricate©, among adolescents with T1D. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old who had T1D for >6 months and had completed our 8-week mHealth mindfulness-training intervention. We identified five themes based on participant interviews: (1) initial appeal and attractiveness, (2) usability, (3) engagement, (4) user outcomes, and (5) recommendations. Appricate© was reported as "well made" that was "very easy to use" with engaging lessons. Participants had improved sleep, stress and anxiety management and better ability to manage school and after-school activities after using Appricate©. Participants also recommended additional content and options for personalization.