improving treatment adherence and psychological well-being in patients with diabetes: the role of emotion-focused therapy

Background: diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease characterized by impaired blood sugar regulation due to issues with insulin production or action. this condition has adverse physical and mental health consequences, impacting overall quality of life.objectives: this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of emotion-focused therapy (eft) in improving treatment adherence and psychological well-being among individuals with diabetes, with emotion regulation as a mediating factor.methods: a quasi-experimental, pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period was employed. the study population consisted of individuals with diabetes referred to the diabetes center in ahvaz. a convenience sample of 30 participants was selected and randomly assigned to two groups of 15: an experimental group and a control group. the experimental group received eight weekly 90-minute sessions of eft. data were collected using the treatment adherence questionnaire, ryff's scale of psychological well-being, and the emotion regulation questionnaire (erq) to assess treatment adherence, psychological well-being, and emotion regulation, respectively. repeated measures anova was used to analyze the data, and mediation analysis was conducted using the bootstrapping method.results: the results indicated that eft had a significant effect on treatment adherence and psychological well-being among patients with diabetes (p < 0.001). these effects were both direct and indirect, with emotion regulation serving as a significant mediator. additionally, the effects were sustained over time.conclusions: this study found that eft is effective in improving treatment adherence and psychological well-being in individuals with diabetes. the sustained benefits over time suggest that eft could be a valuable complement to standard diabetes care.