Background: Social support is associated with better diabetes self-management behavior (SMB), yet interventions to increase family and friend support (FF support) have had inconsistent effects on SMB.
Objective: To test whether FF support differentially affects specific SMBs and compare the influence of support from health professionals and psychological factors on specific SMBs to that of FF support.
Design: Cross-sectional survey of people with diabetes recruited for a self-management intervention
Participants and setting: One hundred sixty-four African-American and Latino adults with diabetes living in inner-city Detroit
Measurements and main results: For every unit increase in FF support for glucose monitoring, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of completing testing as recommended was 1.77 (95% CI 1.21-2.58). FF support was not associated with four other SMBs (taking medicines, following a meal plan, physical activity, checking feet). Support from non-physician health professionals was associated with checking feet [AOR 1.72 (1.07-2.78)] and meal plan adherence [AOR = 1.61 (1.11-2.34)]. Diabetes self-efficacy was associated with testing sugar, meal plan adherence, and checking feet. Additional analyses suggested that self-efficacy was mediating the effect of FF support on diet and checking feet, but not the FF support effect on glucose monitoring.
Conclusions: The association between FF support and SMB performance was stronger for glucose monitoring than for other SMBs. Professional support and diabetes self-efficacy were each independently associated with performance of different SMBs. SMB interventions may need to differentially emphasize FF support, self-efficacy, or professional support depending on the SMB targeted for improvement.