Participants in a diabetes screening programme showed low scores on anxiety and depression scales after first appointment and 1 year later. Diagnosis of diabetes was shown to have a limited psychological impact and may be less important than symptom perception in determining emotional outcomes after participation in diabetes screening.

Psychological variables make a unique and statistically significant contribution to the explanation of differences in both physiological and emotional diabetes outcomes. Potentially, modification of personal views about diabetes could help promote positive health outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes. This study highlights specific illness perceptions that could be targeted in future interventions.

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Background:Family relationships can be a source of support for people with diabetes and may influence self-management behaviour. Research examining diabetes-related family support and conflict to date has focused on children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Aims: To develop a short (≤10-item) measure of diabetes-related family support and family conflict suitable for use among adults with type 2 diabetes, and to evaluate the psychometric properties of this measure in a pilot study. Methods: Participants were randomly selected from a database of primary care records in New Zealand. Data were collected through a mailed questionnaire (n=629). Results: A principal components analysis identified two latent factors that supported the theoretically derived subscales assessing diabetes-related family support and conflict. These subscales showed good evidence of internal consistency (Cronbach's α, 0.84 and 0.75 respectively). Conclusion: The Diabetes Family Support and Conflict (DFSC) scale is a 10-item measure suitable for use among adults with type 2 diabetes. We encourage researchers and clinicians to consider this instrument when a brief measure of diabetes-related family support and family conflict is required. Further testing of the DFSC scale is recommended to help establish normative data for different populations and clinical settings.

Background: While the prevalence of diabetes-related distress is now well recognised, less is known about how best we might intervene to reduce distress. Effective clinical interventions require a good understanding of the factors responsible for creating elevated distress about diabetes. At present there is a dearth of scientific information in this area. Aims: The aim of the present study was to identify cognitive patterns that may contribute to elevated distress among people with type 2 diabetes. It was predicted that cognitive illness perceptions would explain variance in diabetes-related distress. Participants: Research participants were randomly selected from a medical database held in Wellington, New Zealand. Method: Data was collected via mailed questionnaire survey (n=113). Results: It was hypothesised that cognitive illness perceptions would account for a significant proportion of the variance in diabetes-related distress. Results supported this hypothesis. Cognitive variables were found to explain approximately 34% of the variability in diabetes distress (p<0.001), when controlling for age. Conclusions: Research findings highlight two cognitive variables that may play an important role in diabetes distress: (1) a perception that diabetes symptoms fluctuate in cycles, and (2) an expectation that diabetes will have serious life consequences. These findings identify particular cognitive patterns that could form the basis for intervention targets, and might be useful for clinicians and researchers with an interest in reducing the incidence of diabetes-related distress. Findings also highlight the need for careful discussion of diabetes complications in clinical practice.