Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Sep 2022)
The Association Between General Self-Efficacy and Depressive Symptoms in People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Mediating Role of Coping Styles Preference
Abstract
Qingting Li,1,* Yao Chen,1,* Maritta Välimäki,1 Qing Long,1 Jundi Yang,2 Jia Guo1 1Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Nursing, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 999077, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jia Guo, Email [email protected]: Depressive symptoms are prevalent in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus and related with poor disease outcomes. Both general self-efficacy and coping style are associated with depressive symptoms. A model about proactive coping indicates that coping style plays a mediation role between general self-efficacy and depressive symptoms. But, empirical evidence is missing about this potential mediation relationship which may be a barrier of taking precise strategies for relieving depressive symptoms.Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms in persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus and explore whether coping style preference mediates the association between general self-efficacy and depressive symptoms.Methods: This was a secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey (June–July 2017) among 721 persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (45.4% male and 54.6% female) aged from 22 to 96 years old. Data on general self-efficacy, coping style preference and depressive symptoms were collected using validated questionnaires in hospital setting. The mediation model was tested using the bootstrapping (K=5000) in the MPlus program version 7.4. The results were reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines.Results: The prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms was 58% (n = 418) among persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus at hospital setting. A higher level of general self-efficacy was related to less depressive symptoms via positive coping preference (p < 0.01).Discussion: About two-thirds of persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus experienced elevated depressive symptoms during hospitalization. The intervention elements, including strengthening general self-efficacy and promoting positive coping, are promising to decrease their depressive symptoms.Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, coping style, mediation analysis
