Dietary and Exercise Self-regulation as Predictors of Resilience and Glycemic Control in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

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Abhirami T. R.¹, Annalakshmi N.², and Senthil Kumar R.³ (Department of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu^1,2 and Department of Endocrinology & Diabetology, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu³)

Diabetes is a serious chronic illness that develops when the body either produces insufficient insulin or is unable to use the insulin that is generated. Glycemic control must be carefully monitored and modified to reach its optimum level. Self-regulation is essential for diabetic patient’s glucose control. The present study aims to understand the role of diet and exercise self-regulation in contributing to resilience and glycemic control among type 2 diabetic patients. A purposive sample of 300 type 2 diabetic patients (180 men & 120 women) in the age range of 30 to 65 completed self-report questionnaires measuring diet self-regulation, exercise self-regulation, and resilience. The record of blood glucose levels from hospital records was also used for the study as a measure of glycemic control. The data were analysed using multiple linear regression to identify the predictors of psychological resilience and glycemic control among type 2 diabetic patients. The results revealed that external dietary self-regulation positively predicts resilience and dietary amotivation negatively predicts resilience. Also, dietary amotivation positively predicts HbA1C, FBS, and PPBS, while autonomous dietary self-regulation negatively predicts HbA1C, FBS, and PPBS. The analysis also showed that identified exercise self-regulation positively predicts resilience, while exercise amotivation negatively predicts resilience. Furthermore, exercise amotivation positively predicts HbA1C, FBS, and PPBS, while identified exercise self-regulation negatively predicts HbA1C, FBS, and PPBS. Future research may focus on developing and implementing interventions to enhance external dietary self-regulation, autonomous dietary self-regulation, and identified exercise self-regulation for type 2 diabetic patients to improve diabetes self-care management and strengthen resilience among them.