The associations between attachment avoidance, perceived spousal support, and diabetes self-care

This summary provides an overview of the entire dissertation research project. The Problem. The purpose of this study was to examine whether perceived spousal support mediated the relationships between attachment avoidance and diabetes self-care behaviors and glycemic control. Participants. Participants were 68 patients with Type II diabetes mellitus who were also married or cohabitating with their partner. Methods. Patients self-reported on their levels of attachment avoidance to their partner, perception of coping support received from their partner, adherence to diabetes self-care behaviors, and most recent glycated hemoglobin control (HbA1c). Results. Results from multiple regression analyses showed that attachment avoidance was not associated with diabetes self-care behaviors but was negatively related to glycemic control. In addition, contrary to the study’s hypothesis, the inclusion of perceived support did not reduce the association between attachment avoidance and glycemic control. Conclusions. Therefore, the analyses were expanded to examine whether the associations of attachment avoidance and perceived support with glycemic control were different by gender. Post-hoc regression analyses were conducted separately for male and female patients. Results suggested that attachment avoidance and perceived support were associated with glycemic control for male patients but not for female patients