Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes: An Exploratory Study of Their Experience of Family Relationships and Coping With the Illness

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore familial patterns that may be related to type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and to patients’ ways of coping with the illness. Methods A purposive sample of 32 Israeli Jewish (n = 12) and Arab (n = 20) individuals with T2DM were recruited from a community population and interviewed about their familial experiences and their illness. Interview data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. Results Many participants, particularly from the Arab society, reported familial patterns that suggest fused relationships and emotional cutoff. They described highly close and positive family relationships, on one hand, but demonstrated unwillingness to share their difficulties with their family members, on the other hand. Precipitating stressful or traumatic events and day-to-day stress appeared as leading perceived causes of the illness. Maintaining an appropriate lifestyle, stress reduction, and family support were the main coping strategies with the illness. Conclusions The findings suggest a possible avenue in which fusion with family members and inability to attenuate emotional distress by sharing difficulties with others may contribute to the development of T2DM. Assessment of such family dynamics and ways of coping with stress could lead to more appropriately nuanced treatment for individuals with T2DM and prediabetes.

Facilitators and Barriers to Uptake of Community-Based Diabetes Prevention Program Among Multi-Ethnic Asian Patients With Prediabetes

“…They included fear of exacerbation due to inaction, desire for maintaining independence, coupled with an automatic aversion for suffering as a result of observations from experiences of significant others with diabetes. Not wanting to become a burden to the family financially or with care responsibilities featured prominently in our study and was a sentiment especially pertinent in collectivist cultures (47,52). While fear of disease severity as informed by personal observation within social networks appears to motivate some to alter their attitudes, persuasion of participation based on one's belief about severity alone may not be fully effective (32).…”

“…Having family members join group activities has shown to improve glycemic control, diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy and quality of life (37,(45)(46)(47). While family can be both a barrier and facilitator for lifestyle changes, their influence is substantial, especially in Asian cultures, and hence family should be included as agents of change in any proposed intervention (44,(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55). In addition to program-related factors, inadequate comprehension of requisite program components (e.g., metformin) were important determinants hindering participation.…”

Manajemen Beban dengan Pendekatan Terapi Keluarga Triangles dalam Mengatasi Beban Subjektif Keluarga Merawat Klien Diabetes Melitus

“…Selain itu keluarga juga berperan dalam memberikan dukungan emosional kepada anggota keluarga yang sakit (Varcarolis, 2013). Hal ini didukung oleh penelitian Peleg, Hadar, & Cohen (2019) yang menyebutkan bahwa bahwa gaya hidup yang tepat, pengurangan stres, dan dukungan keluarga merupakan strategi utama mengatasi penyakit yang dialami oleh anggota keluarga. Pendapat lain menyatakan bahwa ketidakmampuan keluarga menjalankan fungsi keluarga dapat menjadi faktor penyebab ketidakmampuan keluarga merawat anggota keluarga yang sakit (Nancye, 2015).…”

The Relationship between Type 2 Diabetes, Differentiation of Self, and Emotional Distress: Jews and Arabs in Israel

“…Although emotional distress is heavily affected by familial antecedents, the role of these factors in the etiology of T2DM has not been sufficiently explored [ 12 ]. One of the most interesting factors is the possible role that low differentiation of self (DoS, a family pattern) plays in T2DM, as low DoS has been significantly related to increased levels of emotional distress [ 6 ].…”