– The purpose of this paper is to test a model in which emotional and work-related conflicts associated with diabetes contribute to health management efficacy and behaviour.
– The authors investigated 193 Korean employees with diabetes in a two-phased longitudinal study (101 participants were retained at Time 2).
– After controlling for severity of diabetes (HbA1C), structural equation modelling revealed that higher work-health conflict (a proxy for demand) and higher inauthenticity at work (a proxy for control) were associated with more diabetes-related distress at Time 1. Results also revealed support for longitudinal mediation, such that more diabetes-related distress at Time 1 predicted lower health management efficacy one year later (at Time 2), which was associated with less health management behaviour at Time 2.
– Results support the importance of applying the biopsychosocial perspective to diabetes management through the use of subjective measures of demand and control.
– Suggestions are provided for occupational programmes for workers with disease, including on-site education, health-management training, and flexible job redesign such as telecommuting.
– Research in workers with diabetes for stress relief and disease management.
