Leveraging Social Media To Combat Diabetes Distress: Illuminating The Roles Of Patient Activation And Health Literacy

Abstract

Social media has emerged as an essential platform for support and information in health, driving the psychological and behavioral factors that influence the self-management of chronic disease. Alleviating diabetes distress through engagement on social media is a concept explored by this study with patient activation as mediator and health literacy as moderator. Employing a cross-sectional design, information was gathered from patients with diabetes to evaluate the effects of online activity on emotional well-being and self-management behaviors. Results indicate that increased social media activity is linked with decreased diabetes distress, largely through increased patient activation. Yet, the impact of social media interaction depends on individual differences in health literacy, which emphasizes the necessity for digital health interventions with different levels of information-processing capacity. The research highlights the need for systematic, evidence-based content on social media to optimize favorable health outcomes and minimize risks related to misinformation. Limitations are cross-sectional design of the study, use of self-reported measures, and unmeasured inter-individual variation in things such as coping styles and socio-economic status. Future studies should investigate longitudinal designs and include qualitative approaches to better understand the long-term impact of social media on diabetes distress. These results highlight the importance of integrating digital literacy training and online expert-led communities for the empowerment and wellbeing of patients in diabetes management.