Fatalism as a Mediator of the Association Between Family Resilience and Self-Management Among Patients with Chronic Wounds in China

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how fatalism acts as a mediator in the correlation between family resilience and self-management among patients with chronic wounds in China.

Participants and methods: This study used a cross-sectional research design. A total of 269 adult patients (18-94 years old) with chronic wounds residing in Wuxi, China participated in this study. Participants completed the Chinese version of the Walsh Family Resilience Questionnaire, 16-item Chinese version of the Fatalism Scale, and Self-Management Scale of Chronic Wound Patients. We conducted correlation and mediation analyses using SPSS 27.0 and PROCESS 4.0.

Results: The results indicated family resilience was a significant positive predictor of self-management (β = 0.7101, p < 0.0001), and the pathway between family resilience and self-management was partially mediated by fatalism (Effect = 0.1432, 95% confidence interval [0.0625, 0.2341]).

Conclusion: The results indicated that incorporating spiritual interventions into future person-centered self-management programs could align with the motivation of patients with chronic wounds and their families, and reduce the negative impact of fatalism on health outcomes.

Keywords: chronic wounds; family resilience; fatalism; mediation; self-management.