Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Tahereh Hosseini ¹
• Mehdi Zare Bahramabadi ²
• Reza Ghorban Jahromi ³

¹ Ph.D. student of General Psychology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

² Associate Professor, Research Institute for Humanities Research and Development.

³ Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction
Today, diabetes is known as the most common metabolic disease with an increasing prevalence, a decrease in life expectancy by one third, and an estimated 171 million people worldwide as the most important chronic disease. Since diabetes does not only damage physical and mental performance, and the complications of this disease affect mental status, individual, family, and social relationships, sexual function, perception of health, attitude to the future, life expectancy, etc., therefore, in order to increase the quality of life of people with diabetes, it seems necessary to conduct this research to correctly identify this important construct and the factors affecting its maintenance and continuation. Therefore, in this study, we seek to answer the question of whether emotional schemas play a mediating role in the relationship between the relationship to a just world and social support. Until a few years ago, infectious diseases were considered as the biggest health problem in third-world countries. So that all the power of the countries was used to control and prevent the epidemics of these diseases; But currently, the increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases, especially in developing countries, is considered a serious threat.
Proper control of diabetes requires the patient's ability to take care of himself and his commitment to maintaining his health. A diabetic patient must have a proper and accurate diet plan, exercise regularly, take his medications, and sometimes inject insulin several times a day. Diabetes Mellitus or sugar disease is one of the chronic diseases that have plagued mankind for many years, and it can be seen in all ages. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the mediating role of emotional schemas in the relationship between belief in a just world and social support.
 
Method
The research method is descriptive correlation and structural equation modeling in a special way. The statistical population included all patients with type 2 diabetes referred to specialized diabetes clinics in Tehran, and 350 people were randomly selected from among those who were referred to the Taban Diabetes Clinic (Tehran District 2) in the autumn of 2020-2021. All research processes were done virtually due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic. Research tools include the scale of belief in a just world (Dalbert, 1999) and (Sutton & Douglas, 2005), the scale of perceived social support (Zimet et al., 1988), the scale of emotional schemas (Leahy, 2002), which is the software was provided to the participants.
 
Results
The results showed that the fit indices of the research model were favorable (GFI<0.9) and emotional schemas played a mediating role in the relationship between belief in a just world and social support. This model explains 63% of the changes in belief in a just world in diabetic patients. The obtained results showed that the direct relationship between social support and belief in a just world is significant. Also, emotional schemas can play a mediating role in the relationship between social support and belief in a just world.
Based on the descriptive indicators of age, gender, and education level of the sample group, out of 350 people in the sample group, the highest frequency was among respondents aged between 46 and 55 years with 156 people (44.6 percent) and then respondents aged between 35 and 45 years with 131 people (37.4 percent). 59 percent (208 people) of the sample group were women and 41 percent (142 people) were men. Also, 49 percent (173 people) had a diploma education, 26 percent (92 people) had a bachelor's degree, and 11 percent (37 people) had a master's degree. The obtained data were analyzed using the structural equation method. First, the assumptions of this analysis were examined. Outliers were removed and univariate and multivariate normal distributions were established. The construct validity of all three concepts of social support, emotional schemas, and belief in a just world was examined and confirmed. To examine the causal model of belief in a just world based on social support with the mediating role of emotional schemas, the initial research model was analyzed.
 
Discussion
This means that emotional schemas play a mediating role in the relationship between social support and belief in a just world. In fact, the understanding of social support can prevent the occurrence of adverse physiological effects of the disease in a person, increase the level of self-care and self-confidence of a person, and leave a positive impact on a person's physical, mental, and social condition, and clearly increase performance and improve quality of life. The general result of this research indicates that people with diabetes who have higher social support believe more in the fairness of the world and this belief is doubled when the cognitive flexibility of these people is effective as an executive function of the mind.

Keywords

• Belief in a just world
• social support
• emotional schemas