Some Predictors of Styles of Coping with Diabetes Type 1 and Type 2

The aim of this study was to examine coping styles in regard to diabetes type 1 and type 2, and to examine which are the most important predictors of coping styles: social support, personality traits, diabetes knowledge, years of illness or some socio-demographic variables. 100 people with diagnosis of diabetes (48 type 1 and 52 type 2) aged from 21 to 80 years participated in the study. We used four questionnaires: the adapted version of Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (Hudek-Knezevic and Kardum, 2006), Perceived Social Support Scale (Hudek-Kneievic and Kardum, 1993), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Eysenck and Eysenck, 1975, according to Lojk, 1979), and the translated and adapted version of Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire (Taylor et al., 2003). The results indicate that some differences in coping styles are the result of the type of diabetes. Also we find a significant correlation between some personality traits, perceived social support and styles of coping with diabetes type 1 and type 2. The results suggest that there are different predictive values of perceived social support, personality traits, diabetes knowledge, years of illness and some socio-demographic variables in regard to the type of diabetes.