Associations Between Economic Pressure and Diabetes Efficacy in Couples with Type 2 Diabetes

• Author: Virginia L. Lewis,Ann Walker,Jared R. Anderson,Joshua R. Novak,David C. Robbins,Matthew D. Johnson,Allison Wilcox
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12246
• Published date: 01 April 2017
• Date: 01 April 2017

J R. N Utah State University

J R. A Kansas State University

M D. J University of Alberta

A W, A W, V L. L,  D C. R

University of Kansas Medical Center

Associations Between Economic Pressure and

Diabetes Efcacy in Couples with Type 2 Diabetes

Objective: The purpose of this study was to

explore dyadic associations between economic

pressureand diabetes self-efcacy via emotional

distress in patients with type 2 diabetes and their

partners.

Background: Understanding how economic

pressure is associated with successful diabetes

management is an important area for research,

as couples with type 2 diabetes can incur heavy

economic pressures that could likely inuence

diabetes outcomes.

Method: Data from 117 married couples were

used to test actor–partner associations using

moderated mediation analyses in a structural

equation modeling framework. Problem-solving

communication was tested as a possible modera-

tor of the economic pressure–emotional distress

pathway.

Results: Results revealed that greater patient

economic pressure was associated with lower

patient and spouse condence in the patient’s

diabetes management ability through higher lev-

els of patient emotional distress. The deleterious

Family, Consumer, and Human Development, 218 Family

Life, Utah State University, Logan, UT, 84322

(josh.novak@usu.edu).

Key Words: Diabetes, dyadic data, economic pressure,emo-

tional distress, problem solving.

association between economic pressure and

emotional distress was less pronounced when

spouses reported more effectiveproblem-solving

communication.

Conclusion: These results provideevidence that

the economic pressure couples with type 2 dia-

betes face may reduce the patient and spouse’s

condence in the patient’s diabetes management

ability.

Implications: This study demonstrates the im-

portance of couple’s relationship processes in

buffering the impact of economic pressure on

diabetes management, providing a clear target

for intervention and education efforts.

Type 2 diabetes is a major health concern that is

increasingly prevalent in high- and low-income

countries (Seuring, Archangelidi, & Suhrcke,

2015), affecting approximately 387 million

people worldwide (International Diabetes Fed-

eration, 2014). This chronic health problem

comes at a considerable cost, with recent esti-

mates of the direct health-care costs totaling

$282,973 over one’s lifetime in the United

States (Seuring et al., 2015). These substantial

health-care costs do not include the indirect costs

of living with diabetes, such as lost productivity

(Seuring et al., 2015) and increased mental

health problems (Ho, Dobb, Knuiman, Finn, &

Family Relations 66 (April 2017): 273–286 273

DOI:10.1111/fare.12246