The effectiveness of behavioral activation training on self-care behaviors, perceived pain, and reaction to stress in women with diabetes mellitus type 2

Regarding the high prevalence of adverse complications of diabetes and the importance of psychological intervention to improve self-care behaviors and adaptive coping styles in diabetic patients, the present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of behavioral activation training on self-care behaviors, perceived pain, and reaction to stress in women with diabetes mellitus type 2. 

The statistical population comprises all women with type 2 diabetes who referred to Neishabur health centers. Thirty women were selected based on a voluntary and convenient sampling method. They were divided randomly into the behavioral activation training group and a control group. They fulfilled the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities, Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). We analyzed the data using the descriptive statistics, multivariate covariance analysis test, and SPSS-22 software. 

The results revealed that behavioral activation training improved self-care behaviors (P= 0.001), decreased pain (P= 0.001), increased problem-solving oriented coping to stress (P= 0.001), while it decreased emotion-oriented and avoidant-oriented coping styles (P= 0.001, P= 0.001, respectively) in the experimental group compared to the control group. 

It seems that behavioral activation training improves self-care behaviors, decreases pain, and increases problem-solving-oriented coping to stress in women with type 2 diabetes.