Relationship among Family Support, Mental Resilience and Diabetic Distress in Patients with Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus during COVID-19

BACKGROUND: To promote the treatment effects and self-management behaviors of the patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study empirically investigated the relationship among family support (FMS), mental resilience (MR) and diabetic distress (DD) in patients with T2DM. METHOD: Overall, 256 patients with T2DM from the Department of Endocrinology, Jinhua People’s Hospital, ZheJiang, China were selected and measured for their perceptions of FMS, MR and DD from 2019–2020. Based on the measurements, the difference and correlation matrix under different background variables were studied by one-way variance and correlation analysis. A structural equation was used to analyze the causal path among the measurements. RESULTS: Patients that differ in marital status, annual family income, medical insurance level, number of complications, and with/without insulin injection therapy were significantly different in their perception of FMS, MR and DD. FMS and MR had a significant negative correlation with DD. FMS used MR as an intermediary variable that affected DD. CONCLUSION: Diabetes education, improved medical insurance levels, and targeted psychological consultation for patients could effectively improve their MR and alleviate DD.