Does kindness matter? Self-compassion buffers the negative impact of diabetes-distress on HbA1c

• Published in: Diabetic medicine Vol. 32; no. 12; pp. 1634 - 1640
• Main Authors: Friis, A. M., Johnson, M. H., Cutfield, R. G., Consedine, N. S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-12-2015; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Combined Modality Therapy - adverse effects; Cost of Illness; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - complications; Depression - etiology; Depression - prevention & control; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - psychology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - therapy; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - psychology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - therapy; Emotional Adjustment; Female; Glycated Hemoglobin A - analysis; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Hyperglycemia - prevention & control; Male; Medical Records; Middle Aged; Patient Compliance; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Stress, Psychological - complications; Stress, Psychological - etiology; Stress, Psychological - prevention & control; New Zealand
• ISSN: 0742-3071; 1464-5491
• DOI: 10.1111/dme.12774

Background
Higher self‐compassion is associated with mental and physical health benefits in both healthy and chronically ill populations. The current study investigated the role of self‐compassion in predicting depression, diabetes‐specific distress and HbA1c in patients with diabetes.
Aims
To assess the specific operationalization of negative emotionality that best predicted HbA1c and to test whether self‐compassion would buffer HbA1c in patients with diabetes against the negative effects of distress.
Methods
Patients with diabetes (n = 110) completed measures assessing trait self‐compassion, depression and diabetes‐distress. HbA1c results were obtained through medical records.
Results
As expected, diabetes‐specific distress was a better predictor of HbA1c than depression; self‐compassion moderated the relationship between distress and HbA1c such that higher distress predicted higher HbA1c at lower levels of self‐compassion, but not at higher levels of self‐compassion.
Conclusions
In addition to further demonstrating the link between distress and metabolic outcomes, these findings suggest that self‐compassion might buffer patients from the negative metabolic consequences of diabetes‐distress.
What's new?
This cross‐sectional study among patients with diabetes showed diabetes‐specific distress to be a better predictor of HbA1c than depression.
Self‐compassion – a factor associated with a range of mental and physical health benefits – was found to moderate the relationship between distress and HbA1c such that higher distress predicted higher HbA1c at lower, but not higher, levels of trait self‐compassion.