For patients with non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) it is of vital importance to engage in physical activity and to adhere to a healthy diet. As a significant amount of patients...Show moreFor patients with non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD) it is of vital importance to engage in physical activity and to adhere to a healthy diet. As a significant amount of patients does not seem to adhere sufficiently to these self-management behaviors, the study objective was to examine psychological factors that are associated with adherence to these self-management behaviors. In this study, the univariate, direct associations between perceived control, anxiety and adherence to a healthy diet or engagement in physical activity were investigated. Specifically, this study tested whether the relationship between perceived control and the self-management behaviors was mediated by symptoms of anxiety. A cross-sectional design was used to investigate the relationships between perceived control, anxiety and the self-management behaviors. An online survey consisting of self-report measures was administered on 145 patients with non-dialysis dependent CKD that received treatment in Dutch hospitals. The Brief IPQ, GAD-7, SQUASH and questions based on nephrology guidelines were used to measure perceived control, anxiety, physical activity and adherence to a healthy diet, respectively. Cognitions of helplessness, measured with the ICQ, were used as an additional expression of low perceived control. The direct relationships were tested with a number of bivariate regression analyses and bootstrapping was used to test the mediation effect. Findings show that perceived control was directly and positively related to physical activity (b* = .18, p = .045). Cognitions of helplessness were found to be directly and positively associated with anxiety (b* = .21, p = .01). Patients did not seem to engage less in the self-management behaviors when they experienced lower levels of perceived control or more cognitions of helplessness, as a consequence of having more symptoms of anxiety. Findings suggest that patients with higher levels of perceived control, might engage in more physical activity and that patients with more cognitions of helplessness might experience increased anxiety. An important implication of these findings is that is seems necessary to design cognitive behavioral interventions that aim to enhance levels of perceived control in patients with non-dialysis dependent CKD. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.Show less