Individual differences in impulsivity and need for cognition as potential risk or resilience factors of diabetes self-management and glycemic control

Hadj-Abo et al. (2020) examines 77 individuals with type 2 diabetes on their impulsivity and need for cognition (which is also referred to as cognitive motivation/intellectual engagement and signifies elaborated thinking). The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential roles of these personality traits in diabetes self-management and glycemic control. While increased cognitive motivation was associated with greater diabetes self-management and glycemic control, impulsivity appeared to show the opposite trend. These results suggest that need for cognition may be a vital protective factor for effective diabetes self-management and blood glucose control, while impulsivity may be a risk factor. The author proposes a patient screening system where a questionnaire would collect important information on impulsivity and other personality traits, allowing diabetes treatments and programs tailored towards these traits.

Year: 2020

Reference: Hadj-Abo, A., Enge, S., Rose, J., Kunte, H., & Fleischhauer, M. (2020). Individual differences in impulsivity and need for cognition as potential risk or resilience factors of diabetes self-management and glycemic control. PloS one, 15(1), e0227995. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227995