Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Ann Behav Med. 2019 Feb 1;53(2):196-209. doi: 10.1093/abm/kay028.
Self-monitoring of blood glucose helps people with type 1 diabetes to maintain glycemic control and reduce the risk of complications. However, adherence to blood glucose monitoring is often suboptimal.
Like many health behaviors, self-monitoring of blood glucose involves exerting effort in the present to achieve future benefits. As such, the present research explored whether individual differences in time perspective-specifically, the extent to which people have a balanced time perspective-are associated with the frequency with which people with type 1 diabetes monitor their blood glucose and, thus, maintain glycemic control.
Adults with type 1 diabetes completed measures of time perspective, feelings associated with monitoring, attitudes toward monitoring, and trait self-control. Objective data regarding the frequency with which participants monitored their blood glucose levels and their long-term glycemic control were extracted from their medical records.
Hierarchical regression analyses and tests of indirect effects (N = 129) indicated that having a more balanced time perspective was associated with more frequent monitoring of blood glucose and, as a result, better glycemic control. Further analyses (N = 158) also indicated that there was an indirect relationship between balanced time perspective and monitoring of blood glucose via the feelings that participants associated with monitoring and their subsequent attitudes toward monitoring.
These findings point to the importance and relevance of time perspective for understanding health-related behavior and may help to inform interventions designed to promote self-monitoring of blood glucose in people with type 1 diabetes.
自我血糖监测有助于 1 型糖尿病患者控制血糖，降低并发症风险。然而，血糖监测的依从性往往并不理想。
与许多健康行为一样，自我血糖监测需要人们在当下付出努力，以实现未来的获益。因此，本研究探讨了时间视角的个体差异——具体来说，即人们是否具有平衡的时间视角——是否与 1 型糖尿病患者监测血糖的频率有关，而监测血糖的频率又与血糖控制情况有关。
1 型糖尿病患者完成了时间视角、与监测相关的感受、对监测的态度以及特质自控力的测量。参与者监测血糖水平的频率以及他们的长期血糖控制情况的客观数据是从他们的病历中提取出来的。
分层回归分析和间接效应检验（N=129）表明，具有更平衡的时间视角与更频繁地监测血糖有关，进而更好地控制血糖。进一步的分析（N=158）还表明，通过参与者与监测相关的感受以及他们随后对监测的态度，平衡的时间视角与监测血糖之间存在间接关系。
这些发现表明时间视角对于理解与健康相关的行为非常重要和相关，这可能有助于为 1 型糖尿病患者设计促进自我血糖监测的干预措施提供信息。
