Apathy and type 2 diabetes among American Indians: Exploring the protective effects of traditional cultural involvement

Abstract

In this study we examine relationships between traditional cultural factors, apathy, and health- related outcomes among a sample of American Indian adults with type 2 diabetes. Participants completed cross- sectional interviewer- assisted paper and pencil surveys. We tested a proposed model using latent variable path analysis in order to understand the relationships between cultural participation, apathy, frequency of high blood sugar symptoms, and health- related quality of life. The model revealed significant direct effects from cultural participation to apathy, and apathy to both health- related outcomes. No direct effect of cultural participation on either health- related outcome was found; however, cultural participation had a negative indirect effect through apathy on high blood sugar and positive indirect effects on health- related quality of life. This study highlights a potential pathway of cultural involvement to positive diabetes outcomes.