This study investigated the relationship among several psychological constructs and glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes patients on multiple... Show moreThis study investigated the relationship among several psychological constructs and glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes patients on multiple daily doses of insulin. Participants were mostly impoverished and underserved minorities and were all patients of a diabetes specialty clinic in a county hospital of a metropolitan area in the Midwest of the U.S. Eighty-two participants completed self-reported questionnaires on diabetes, self-efficacy, psychological distress, diabetes-related distress, adherence to medication, diabetes knowledge, literacy, numeracy, health locus of control and had their HbA1c tested. Results of multiple regression analyses controlling for age, gender, and duration of diabetes indicted that higher self-efficacy (p = .005) was associated with better glycemic control. Mediation analyses did not yield significant results when testing whether self-efficacy mediated the relationship between some psychological constructs (i.e., diabetes knowledge, literacy, or numeracy) and glycemic control. Similarly, no significant results were found in mediation analyses neither when adherence to medication was tested as a mediator between diabetes knowledge and glycemic control nor when diabetes-related distress was tested as a mediator between psychological distress and glycemic control. These results emphasize the importance of self-efficacy among underserved minority patient in their abilities to perform all complex behaviors required to properly manage diabetes. Future studies with larger sample sizes should expand our findings and provide more information on some of our non-significant findings. Ph.D. in Psychology, December 2016 Show less
