Associations of Personality, Distress, Social Support With Self-Care Behaviors in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

The findings of recent studies indicate that self-care behaviors are significantly associated with diabetes-related distress and social support in patients with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, Big-Five personality traits are also considered to be associated with self-care behaviors and should be considered. This study was designed to investigate the associations between Big-Five personality traits, diabetes-related distress, and social support and diabetes self-care behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes. A cross-sectional study design was conducted with 200 participants recruited by convenience sampling. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic and disease characteristics, Big Five personality indicators, diabetes-related distress, social support, and self-care behavior. Data were analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson's correlation test, and enter method multiple regression analysis. Social support was found to relate positively and significantly with self-care behavior, while no significant relationship was found between diabetes-related distress and self-care behaviors. Participants with high scores for extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness tended to have better self-care behavior, while those with a high score for neuroticism tended to have poor self-care behaviors. The results of the enter method multiple regression analysis showed age and social support to be significant factors associated with self-care behaviors, explaining 19.5% of the variance. Priority concern should be given to patient age and social support status when working to improve the self-care behaviors of patients with type 2 diabetes. As personality traits were found to be significantly associated with self-care behaviors, these should be included in the individual health education program.