Mediating Effect of Coping Style Between Risk Perception of Complications and Self-Management in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Purpose: To examine how coping style mediates the relationship between risk perception of diabetic complications and self-management, so as to provide evidence for improving the self-management level of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Patients and methods: We recruited patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and conducted a cross-sectional survey using a general information questionnaire, the risk perception survey-diabetes mellitus (RPS-DM), the medical coping modes questionnaire (MCMQ), and the summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA). Descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were carried out with SPSS 25.0 software, and a structural equation model was constructed with AMOS 24.0 software to verify the mediating effect.

Results: A total of 343 valid questionnaires were collected. Diabetes patients' risk perception of complications has a positive impact on self-management behavior. Cope style was analyzed in three dimensions: confrontation, avoidance and acceptance-resignation, where the confrontation dimension is positively correlated with risk perception of complications and self-management behavior, and the acceptance-resignation dimension is negatively correlated with risk perception of complications and self-management behavior. These two dimensions have partial mediating effects (β=0.115, 95% CI = 0.041-0.225; β = 0.147, 95% CI = 0.056-0.283) between risk perception of complications and self-management behaviors, accounting for 15.9% and 20.3% of the total effects, respectively.

Conclusion: Our study discovered that the risk perception of complications can affect self-management behavior via various coping styles, suggesting that clinical medical staff should assist patients with type 2 diabetes in facing the perceived risk of complications positively, and thus improve their self-management behavior.