Types of family support persons and links to self-efficacy and disease severity among underserved Latino/a primary care patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to assess whether who patients report as their primary family support person is linked to diabetes self-efficacy and disease severity.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD: A total of 177 Latino/a patients with type 2 diabetes completed surveys regarding diabetes-related family support, diabetes self-efficacy, and self-management behaviors. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was collected from each patient's medical record. Associations were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance.

RESULTS

Patients without a support person had significantly higher HbA1c values. These patients reported receiving significantly less diabetes-related support than patients with a spouse, parent/sibling, or son/daughter support person. This lack of support person created a significant support deficit for these patients. Patients with a spouse support person reported significantly greater diabetes self-efficacy than patients with a parent/sibling, son/daughter, or no support person.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients without family support may be at risk of worse outcomes, and certain sources of family support may be tied to diabetes self-efficacy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).