1618-P: Mediating Role of Diabetes Self-Efficacy in Factors Associated with Self-Management in Patients with Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional, Correlational Study

Introduction and Objective: Poor diabetes self-management is prevalent in individuals with diabetes and can result in diabetes complications. Diabetes knowledge may impact diabetes self-management directly and indirectly via the impact on self-efficacy, but these relationships have rarely been examined in this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether diabetes knowledge was associated with diabetes self-management and to examine the mediating role of diabetes self-efficacy in this relationship among individuals with diabetes, controlling depressive symptoms, diabetes distress, self-esteem, self-compassion, resilience, social support, body mass index (BMI), and age. Methods: In this cross-sectional, correlational study, baseline data from two studies were used. In the studies, adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes residing in the U.S. who could read and understand English were recruited using online and offline methods. Data on all study and demographic variables were collected via REDCap in 2023 and 2025. PROCESS macro was used to examine the proposed relationships. Results: In this sample (N = 228, mean age: 56.5, 37.7% male), overall self-management was poor (18.0 out of 35.0). Stronger diabetes knowledge showed a direct relationship with better diabetes self-management (direct effect = .779, 95% bootstrap confidence interval [CI] = .401, 1.157) and an indirect relationship through higher levels of diabetes self-efficacy (indirect effect = .193, bootstrap CI = .078, .333). Additionally, higher levels of resilience, lower BMIs, and older ages were also associated with better diabetes self-management. Conclusion: Diabetes knowledge was associated with diabetes self-management directly and indirectly through diabetes self-efficacy, indicating the mediating role of diabetes self-efficacy. These results highlight the potential role of diabetes knowledge and self-efficacy in diabetes self-management and may inform the development of future interventions.