The Mediation Effects of Self‐Efficacy on the Relationship Between Diabetes‐Related Content Exposure and Self‐Management Among Older Diabetics: A Cross‐Sectional Study

AIMS: To map the diabetes-related content exposure of older adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and explore the association between the exposure and self-management and the mediation effects of self-efficacy. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: This study was conducted among 257 eligible older adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus from five communities in China. Diabetes self-management and self-efficacy were measured with standardised assessment tools. The variable of diabetes-related content exposure was generated by the collection of all content exposure and the transformation of Q-methodology. Descriptive statistics and the relative mediation effect model were used to do the analyses. RESULTS: Among the participants, 61.1% had hyperbeneficial content exposure, 13.6% had hypobeneficial content exposure, 24.9% had irrelevant content exposure, and 0.4% had harmful content exposure. Compared with those with irrelevant content exposure, older adults with hyperbeneficial content exposure exhibited higher self-management scores (β = 0.448, 95% CI = 0.174-0.721); in the mediation model, the relative direct effect of hyperbeneficial content exposure on self-management remained significant (β = 0.377, 95% CI = 0.104-0.650), and self-efficacy significantly mediated this relationship (β = 0.071, 95% CI = 0.011-0.154). The relative mediation effect accounted for 15.8% of the relative total effect. Conversely, no significant effect of hypobeneficial content exposure on self-management was observed. CONCLUSION: Social media can empower the self-management of older adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus exposed to hyperbeneficial contents, with self-efficacy serving as a significant mediator. In contrast, exposure to hypobeneficial contents on social media did not lead to significant improvement in the self-management. This suggests that not all diabetes-related contents on social media are equally beneficial, and the relevance of information matters. IMPLICATIONS: Healthcare providers should consider leveraging social media platforms in conjunction with traditional education programmes to enhance the self-management of older adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Older adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus may search positively diabetes-related hyperbeneficial contents on social media. REPORTING METHOD: The report of this study adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement guidelines. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No patient or public contribution.