Health and Medical Psychology Health and Medical Humanities

Comparative Effectiveness of Mobile-Delivered Motivational Interviewing and Diabetes Self-Management Education on Diabetes Distress in Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

https://doi.org/10.61838/ijbmc.v12i9.1210
Diabetes distress type 2 diabetes mHealth motivational interviewing diabetes self-management education

Authors

  • Shahrzad Dibaiyan
    shdibaiyan@gmail.com
    Ph.D., Department of Health Psychology, Kish International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kish Island, Iran. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8143-1252
  • Hamid Poursharifi Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Rehabilitation Sciences and Social Health, Tehran, Iran.
  • Faramarz Sohrabi Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.
  • Mehrdad Sabet Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Roudehen Branch, Islamic Azad University, Roudehen, Iran.
  • Kimia Bayegan Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran.
In Press
Quantitative Study(ies)

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two mobile-delivered interventions—motivational interviewing (MI) and diabetes self-management education (DSME)—on diabetes distress in adults with type 2 diabetes. 

Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study used a pretest–posttest design with a control group and follow-up. Forty-five adults with type 2 diabetes attending the endocrine clinic at Imam Khomeini Hospital and health centers in Tehran (2021) were recruited through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: MI, DSME, and control (n=15 each). Interventions were delivered via smartphones/WhatsApp in small online groups. MI was delivered in 5 weekly sessions plus one stress-control session, and DSME was delivered in 6 weekly sessions. Diabetes distress was measured using the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS) at baseline, post-test (2 weeks after the intervention), and at the 3-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated/mixed measures analysis. 

Findings: Mean diabetes distress scores decreased descriptively in both intervention groups from pretest to post-test and follow-up, but changes were not statistically significant compared with the control group. The group × time interaction effect on diabetes distress was not significant (Greenhouse–Geisser corrected: F≈1.30, p=0.285, η²=0.067).

Conclusion: In this sample, mobile-delivered MI and DSME did not produce statistically significant reductions in diabetes distress compared with the control condition. Findings should be interpreted in light of the small sample size, pandemic-era context (COVID-19), and potential contextual stressors that may have attenuated intervention effects.