Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To determine the mediating effect of self-esteem in the relationship between the perceived stigmatization of individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and their self-efficacy regarding diabetes management. METHODS: The study was carried out with 162 patients with T2DM who visited the Internal Medicine outpatient clinic, Bartin Public Hospital, Bartin, Turkey, between December 2020 and May 2021. A descriptive information form, diabetes management self-efficacy scale, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and type-2 diabetes stigma assessment scale were used in data collection. RESULTS: As a result of regression analyses, it was determined that the variables of stigmatization (ß= -0.294) and self-esteem (ß=0.875) had a significant predictive effect on self-efficacy of patients with T2DM, and that as self-esteem was added to the model, the effect of stigmatization on self-efficacy (ß= -0.294) decreased (ß= -0.230, p<0.05). According to these findings and the results of the Sobel test, it was determined that self-esteem had a partial mediator role (z= -3.347; p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Minimizing the perceived stigmatization can improve patients' diabetes management self-efficacy. With patient training programs and individualized nursing care plans prepared by psychiatric nurses to provide psychological support patients and through their interventions that increase self-esteem, self-stigmatization can be reduced.