Relationship between Spiritual -Being and Religious Coping Styles with Self-Management in Type II Diabetes PatientsIran

Diabetes is highly prevalent worldwide, and self-management is the central factor for controlling and delaying the complications of diabetes in diabetic patients. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual well-being and religious coping styles with self-management in diabetic patients.

This is a correlational study conducted through Structural Equation Modeling. The study population included all type II diabetic patients in Yazd, Iran, from whom 207 individuals were selected by convenience sampling to participate in the study. Data were collected using Gomez and Fisher Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire, Pargament Religious Coping Questionnaire, and Diabetes Self-Management Questionnaire. They were then analyzed by SPSS (version 23) and AMOS (version 24) software.

The results showed that spiritual well-being was statistically and significantly related to a positive religious coping style. In addition, the association between positive religious coping style and diabetes self-management was statistically positive and significant. On the other hand, a negative religious coping style had a significant yet negative relationship with diabetes self-management and the spiritual well-being of diabetic patients. Moreover, the relationship between spiritual well-being and self-management of diabetes was statistically positive and significant. The findings also revealed that religious coping styles mediate the relationship between spiritual well-being and diabetes self-management (P<0.01).

The results indicate that diabetic patients with higher spiritual well-being and a more positive religious coping style show higher diabetes self-management. Therefore, it is expected that by increasing the spiritual well-being of diabetic patients and strengthening their positive religious coping style, their self-management increases significantly. Due to the importance of self-management in controlling diabetes and postponing its complications, it is suggested that healthcare centers pay special attention to improving spiritual well-being and correcting the religious coping style of patients.