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Appearance Investment, Quality of Life, and Metabolic Control Among Women with Type 1 Diabetes

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Abstract

Background

Concomitants of Type 1 diabetes management include weight gain and dietary restraint. Body image concerns, particularly among women, are therefore common.

Purpose

The study evaluated associations between the appearance investment component of body image, age, quality of life and self-reported metabolic control were examined, along with the practice of insulin restriction as a weight control strategy.

Method

A questionnaire comprising demographic and diabetes-related information, the Appearance Schemas Inventory, and Diabetes Quality of Life Brief Clinical Inventory was completed by Australian women diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (N = 177).

Results

Self-evaluative salience was higher among younger participants, those with a lower quality of life, and those with better metabolic control of their diabetes, with the relationships between metabolic control and all of age, quality of life, and self-evaluative salience noted to be non-linear. Among participants who reported restricting insulin for weight control, self-evaluative salience was particularly relevant. Motivational salience was not related to other study variables.

Conclusion

Clinically, the provision of information regarding appearance changes that might arise in order to mitigate later body image difficulties is a potentially beneficial adjunct to standard diabetes management protocols that may lead to more successful disease adjustment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

    Nicola R. Gawlik

  2. School of Medicine, Flinders University, Level 3, Health Sciences Building, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia

    Anna J. Elias & Malcolm J. Bond

Authors
  1. Nicola R. Gawlik
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  2. Anna J. Elias
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  3. Malcolm J. Bond
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Malcolm J. Bond.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Gawlik, N.R., Elias, A.J. & Bond, M.J. Appearance Investment, Quality of Life, and Metabolic Control Among Women with Type 1 Diabetes. Int.J. Behav. Med. 23, 348–354 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-015-9524-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-015-9524-9

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