Family, Marital, and Friend Relationships and Diabetics Psychological Quality of Life

For diabetics, the mental health facets of quality of life are often comorbid with the development and progression of the disease. Compared to the general population, depressive and anxiety symptoms (D/A) are higher among diabetics. Further, several factors associated with higher D/A (e.g., obesity-promoting behaviors and neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses) cause the development of diabetes, progression of the disease, and insulin resistance. In the general population, social relationship quality is consistently linked to D/A with lower quality linked to more D/A. However, among diabetics, little is known about how social relationships are linked to D/A. In the present study, we test how diabetic patients’ marital (n = 121), family, and friendship relationship quality (n = 160) are linked to their self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms using a series of univariate and multivariate regression models (Table 1). Findings indicate a consistent link across relationships and A/D but especially marital and family relationships in multivariate models. These relationships are linked to patient‗s quality of life and potentially subsequent physiological and behavioral factors associated with blood glucose regulation. Therefore, as practitioners alter standard care practices to improve patient‗s quality of life, they should consider assessing social factors in addition to individual factors.Table 1.Unstandardized parameter estimates (standard errors), 95% confidence intervals, and p-values for the univariate and multivariate regression models testing marital, family, and friendship quality influence on two outcome variables: (1) depressive and (2) anxiety symptoms.Depressive Symptoms ModelsModel 1Model 2Model 3Model 4VariableB(SE)95% CIp-valueB(SE)95% CIp-valueB(SE)95% CIp-valueB(SE)95% CIp-valueMarital Quality1.75(.89).00,3.51.05---.70(.91)-1.11, 2.513.44Family Quality---3.07(.68)1.72,4.42< .001---2.32(.97).40, 4.25.02Friendship Quality---2.89(.87)1.18,4.61.0011.40(1.19)-.96, 3.76.24Anxiety Symptom ModelsModel 5Model 6Model 7Model 8VariableB(SE)95% CIp-valueB(SE)95% CIp-valueB(SE)95% CIp-valueB(SE)95% CIp-valueMarital Quality1.88(.56).76, 3.00.001---1.19(.58).04, 2.34.04Family Quality---2.17(.47)1.24, 3.10