Social network characteristics, self-management behavior, and the mediating role of self-efficacy among diabetes patients: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Authors

Xixuan Cai, JianJiang Pan, Gang Li, Tao Chen, Zhou Fang, Zhangqing Ren, LongMeng Peng, JingJing Huang, XiuHua Gong, QingXia Chen, BaoJi Wang, LuSha Li, LiYing Chen

Published in

Frontiers in endocrinology. Volume 17. Pages 1934060. Epub Sep 24, 2026.

Abstract

Social isolation (structural social network deficit) is closely linked to poor health outcomes in patients with diabetes. Existing studies often focus on broad isolation or single-dimensional factors, lacking targeted exploration in the Chinese population.
To explore the associations between social network characteristics and self-management behavior in patients with diabetes, and assess the mediating role of self-efficacy in this association.
A multi-center cross-sectional study was used to recruit 2, 358 patients with diabetes. The assessments included social network characteristics, self-efficacy, and self-management behavior. Pearson's correlation analysis was employed to examine the relationships between these variables. Regression models were utilized to assess the mediating effect of self-efficacy, with the bootstrap method applied to confirm the significance of the mediation pathways.
Among the 2, 358 participants, the average diabetes management score was 36.51. Regression models indicated that both family network size (β = 0.251, 95% CI: 0.048-0.455, p = 0.016) and friend network size (β = 0.325, 95% CI: 0.147-0.504, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with better self-management behavior in patients with diabetes. Family support (β = 0.558, 95% CI: 0.406-0.710, p < 0.001) and friend support (β = 0.624, 95% CI: 0.484-0.764, p < 0.001) also showed strong positive effects on self-management behavior in patients with diabetes. Pearson's correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between social network characteristics, self-efficacy, and self-management behaviors in patients with diabetes (p < 0.001). The mediating role of self-efficacy was confirmed, with significant indirect effects observed for both family and friend support.
This study highlights the significant influence of social network characteristics, particularly social support, on self-management behavior in diabetic patients. Family and friend support positively impact self-management behaviors, and self-efficacy mediates these relationships.

PMID:
42852090
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.