Abstract
Examine cross-sectional relationships between dispositional mindfulness and diabetes self-care behaviors (i.e., medication adherence, diet and exercise behavior, and self-monitoring of blood glucose; SMBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, %), and body mass index (BMI; continuously and obese vs. not). Adults with type 2 diabetes (N = 148, Mage = 55.7 ± 10.1) who were recruited to participate in a web-based diabetes medication adherence intervention completed all assessments at enrollment. In unadjusted analyses, mindfulness was associated with better dietary habits and worse HbA1c (p < .05). After controlling for a priori covariates (demographics, years since diabetes diagnosis, and insulin status), mindfulness remained associated with better dietary behavior (p < .01) but not HbA1c. Mindfulness was not associated with medication adherence, exercise behavior, SMBG, or body mass index. We found evidence that dispositional mindfulness plays an important role in dietary behaviors, supporting the use of mindful eating techniques in diabetes self-management interventions. Fostering mindfulness may be one of several behavioral tools needed to support key self-care behaviors and improve HbA1c.
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Acknowledgements
JF wrote the manuscript. CYO planned and oversaw the parent study and edited the manuscript. AEL coordinated data collection and edited the manuscript. LSM and AEL developed the hypotheses and plan for this paper. LSM planned and conducted analyses and edited the manuscript. An abstract of work was presented at the 38th Society for Behavioral Medicine’s Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions, in April 2017.
Funding
This research was funded with support from the Center for Diabetes Translational Research (NIDDK P30 DK092986) and CYO’s Career Development Award (NIDDK K01 DK087894). LSM was also supported by NIDDK K01 DK106306.
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Jason Fanning and Lindsay Mayberry declare that they have no conflicts of interest; Chandra Osborn and Andrea Lagotte are employed by and have equity in Informed Data Systems Inc. to which this study does not report. Both have no conflict of interest.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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Fanning, J., Osborn, C.Y., Lagotte, A.E. et al. Relationships between dispositional mindfulness, health behaviors, and hemoglobin A1c among adults with type 2 diabetes. J Behav Med 41, 798–805 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9938-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-9938-3