Honors Theses

Date of Award

Spring 4-22-2024

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Aaron Lee

Second Advisor

Todd Smitherman

Third Advisor

Emmy Parkes

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Medication nonadherence in patients with type 2 diabetes contributes to poor glycemic control which often results in the development of serious and irreversible diabetes-related complications. This study examines the role of the maladaptive cognitive processes of rumination and thought suppression on medication nonadherence in patients with type 2 diabetes. The sample for this study (N = 343) consisted of adults (mean: 55, range: 19 – 85) with type 2 diabetes enlisted through a web-based platform. Participants completed a series of validated questionnaires including the Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire, White Bear Suppression Inventory, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Binary logistic regression models were used to examine the association between cognitive risk factors and diabetes medication non-adherence, controlling for age, insulin use, income, and number of diabetes support persons. Our results showed that greater perseverative thinking (AOR: 1.04; p < .001) and greater thought suppression (AOR: 1.03; p = .002) were associated with greater odds of medication nonadherence. The unproductive aspect of perseverative thinking was found to have the strongest association with medication nonadherence (AOR: 1.71; p < .001). Our study has the potential to improve approaches in changing unproductive patterns of thinking associated with patients’ abilities to take medications.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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