Sarah Lennon, MS: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: Distress and support may affect health behaviors in married couples in which one partner has type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The objective of this study was to explore diabetes distress and lifestyle behavior support as they relate to diet quality (DQ) in both partners.
Methods: Qualtrics Panels were employed to survey couples in which at least one partner had T2DM. Diet quality was derived from the National Cancer Institute Dietary Screener Questionnaire, with positive and negative scoring items summed as healthy and unhealthy, respectively. T2DM-specific validated tools assessed diabetes distress, and health-specific validated tools assessed lifestyle behavior support. Linear Regression and Pearson Correlations determined relationships between partner’s responses and the patient’s diabetes distress as well as concordance between both individual and partner responses.
Results: Valid responses were received from 133 couples. Unhealthy DQ (r=.349; p< .001), but not healthy DQ (r=.104; p=.234), was associated with perceived diabetic distress. Concordance was observed between individuals and partners regarding diabetes distress (r=.450, p< .001). Healthy DQ was associated with most support subscales: family nutrition (ß=.256; p=.004), exercise support (ß=.277; p=.002), family exercise (ß=.297, p< .001), and health support (ß=.238; p=.008) with the exceptions of eating support (ß=.120; p=.189), exercise disagreements (ß=.094; p=.303), and food disagreements (ß=-.124; p=.173).
Conclusions: In this sample of couples with T2DM, partner support regarding diet, health, and exercise were significantly associated with Healthy DQ. Similarly, exercise and food disagreements were not associated with patients’ Healthy DQ. These findings underscore the importance of targeting the dyad for health behavior change and lifestyle interventions.
Funding Sources: Funding was supported by Auburn University Intramural Grants Program (IGP).
