Family involvement and diabetes distress across dyads for adults with type 2 diabetes.
McKenzie K Roddy, Lyndsay A Nelson, Andrew J Spieker and 2 others
PMID 37018880WHAT IT FOUND
Harmful family involvement, such as arguing about food or undermining self-care, is linked to higher diabetes distress for both the patient and the support person.
This pattern holds regardless of whether they live together, suggesting support for the caregiver as well as the patient.
Key findings
01Patients who experienced more harmful involvement from family or friends reported higher diabetes distress.
02Support persons who self-reported engaging in more harmful involvement also reported higher distress about the patient's diabetes.
03Support persons' self-reported harmful involvement was associated with higher distress for the patient.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if harmful involvement causes distress or if distressed people engage in more harmful involvement. Support persons may underreport harmful behaviors due to social desirability bias. Patients reported on involvement from all family and friends, not just the specific support person enrolled, making it difficult to isolate the impact of the enrolled partner's behavior on the patient.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that harmful involvement only affects the patient. The data shows that support persons who engage in harmful behaviors also experience significant distress themselves, and their behavior is linked to the patient's distress. Interventions that ignore the support person's well-being may miss a key driver of the patient's stress.