Relationship among Family Support, Mental Resilience and Di-abetic Distress in Patients with Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus during COVID-19

Abstract

Background: To promote the treatment effects and self-management behaviors of the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study empirically investigated the relationship among family support (FMS), mental resilience (MR) and diabetic distress (DD) in patients with T2DM.

Method: Overall, 256 patients with T2DM from the Department of Endocrinology, Jinhua People’s Hospital, ZheJiang, China were selected and measured for their perceptions of FMS, MR and DD from 2019-2020. Based on the measurements, the difference and correlation matrix under different background variables were studied by one-way variance and correlation analysis. A structural equation was used to analyze the causal path among the measurements.

Results: Patients that differ in marital status, annual family income, medical insurance level, number of complications, and with/without insulin injection therapy were significantly different in their perception of FMS, MR and DD. FMS and MR had a significant negative correlation with DD. FMS used MR as an intermediary variable that affected DD.

Conclusion: Diabetes education, improved medical insurance levels, and targeted psychological consultation for patients could effectively improve their MR and alleviate DD.