Research links self-efficacy to better diabetes management in adolescents

Self-efficacy involves one’s belief in their own ability to carry out tasks successfully. A psychological construct studied by psychologist Albert Bandura since the 1980s, it has been shown to have an influence not only on cognitive processes, but also on behavior and emotions. According to a recently published study, this confidence in achieving goals generates behavioral changes that improve glycemic control of type I diabetes in adolescents. The key is those behavioral changes.

This is a multidisciplinary study featuring participation by the Pediatrics area, and the Endocrinology and Nutrition area, at the Reina Sofia University Hospital, in collaboration with the Psychology Department at the University of Cordoba. It shows how psychological variables have an impact on patients’ physical well-being and quality of life. 

The study, has which involved more than 200 children and adolescents, has carried out glycemic controls for two years using glucose meters that, as researcher Ángel Rebollo explained, are “devices that allow us to continuously check if glucose levels are within adequate ranges”

The patients have been surveyed in four different phases, in which different variables were analyzed to measure self-efficacy, affective balance, perceived social support, self-esteem and quality of life. According to Joaquín Villaécija, one of the researchers who participated in the study, after correlating biomedical markers with psychological variables, the results reflect a pattern that repeats over time: “people with higher self-efficacy scores show better glycemic control.”

Although this relationship is more direct among adolescents, explained the first author of the study, Carmen Tabernero, in the preadolescent population this correlation was not found, a fact that the researcher puts down to the fact that, in cases of children, the care required for the management of diabetes falls, to a greater extent, on parents. Based on these results, one of the group’s lines of psychological intervention focuses on parents and their ability to get their children to adhere to their treatments.

Interventions to promote self-efficacy

The work shines a light on how self-efficacy can determine a behavior, and, above all, how that behavior can result in a significant improvement in people’s health. As researcher Bárbara Luque pointed out, diseases such as diabetes “require changes in behavior, in the form of adherence to treatment, a balanced diet, and physical activity. If you add to this adolescents’ efforts to build their own identity, and to feel integrated into a group of equals,” the researcher added, “a situation of stress can be generated affecting one’s self-management of the disease.” 

Therefore, the research team is already working on a series of psychoeducational interventions through which it seeks to put forth a series of guidelines and behaviors to improve self-efficacy among adolescent populations. The objective: to integrate a psychosocial perspective into patient care to improve quality of life.