DISEASE-RELATED STRESSORS, SOCIAL SUPPORT, ILLNESS BEHAVIORS, AND OUTCOMES AMONG INSULIN-USING DIABETICS.
Contributors: University of California, San Francisco.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 216
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Mental Health.
Description: Helping people with diabetes live with the demands of the disease has long challenged the ingenuity and resources of nurses and other health professionals. The disease and its treatment pervade all aspects of life so it stands to reason that support from others might promote better health practices and outcomes.

Findings of previous studies of social support in diabetes represent a variety of designs and yield and mixed results. Consistent with the literature review, a model was developed with diabetes as a stressor and social support as a modifier of its effects. Gender-social support and stressor-social support interactions were at the heart of the model, which suggested two groups of hypotheses: (1) social support is associated with better home management behaviors, diabetes control, and affective state among diabetics and more so for women than men; (2) social support is associated with better home management behaviors, diabetes control, and affective state among diabetics and more so when the demands of the disease are greater.

A cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 188 insulin-using diabetics in five study sites. The Demands of Diabetes Scale was developed for this study to quantify disease-related stressors. Diabetes-specific social support, general social support and depressive symptoms were measured using previously standardized instruments. Diabetes control was represented by hemoglobin A$\sb\□rm 1c □$values which reflect average blood glucose levels over 1-2 months prior to measurement.

While neither social support nor diabetes stressors were related to hemoglobin A$\sb\□rm 1c,□$ more frequent home monitoring behaviors were related to better diabetes control. Diabetes-specific support in interaction with diabetes stressors predicted monitoring behaviors, and general social support mitigated the depressive effects of disease-related stressors. No gender-social support interactions were significant.

Interpretation of findings is limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data, but the analyses suggest that diabetes-specific support is associated with less frequent monitoring behaviors under some circumstances. General social support, however, had a direct negative effect on depressive symptoms.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-11, Section: B, page: 4979.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, 1989.

School code: 0034.