Coping with type 2 diabetes: do race and gender matter?

The aim of this study was to identify the coping methods of adults with type 2 diabetes, explore whether patient race (African-American vs. white, non-Latino) and gender (female vs. male) influenced coping style, and then analyze the relationship between coping and self-assessed diabetic control (self-management success).

From an exploratory research design using a mixed-methodological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 34 interviewees--9 black females, 5 black males, 15 white females, and 5 white males--living in a large mid-South city. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, then unitized and codified for analysis.

Interviewees reported 136 strategies, collapsed into 40 distinct coping methods. Race and gender differences first were observed in the frequency distributions of methods. Whites reported significantly more problem-focused methods than African-Americans. Males reported, overall, fewer methods, less emotion-focused, yet more problem-focused methods than females. Interviewees reporting emotion-focused methods were less likely to report problem-focused methods. Emotion-focused coping was associated with poorer self-assessed diabetic control; problem-focused coping was associated with better control.

Findings suggest that adults with type 2 diabetes use a variety of coping methods, with their basic coping styles influenced by race and gender. This study also demonstrated the usefulness of the problem/emotion-focused dichotomy as a coping method classification system and how these basic styles correlate with interviewees' diabetic control. Lastly, findings emphasize the complexity and importance of psychosocial coping in diabetes and the need for greater attention by clinicians and researchers.