The long-term adjustment of 60 persons with spinal cord injury

Abstract

This study utilised the constructs employed in Schulz and Decker's (1985) study of the long-term adjustment of 100 middle-aged and elderly persons who had lived with spinal cord injury (SCI) for an average of 20 years. In a major departure from that study, a relatively younger group of persons with traumatic SCI was interviewed an average of 11 years after onset of disability. They answered questions concerning perceived control, health status, social support, satisfaction with social contact, and, in addition, recent life events. Three standardised instruments, the life satisfaction and depression scales utilised by Schulz and Decker, and a vocational identity scale were used to measure adjustment. Although the respondents reported mean levels of adjustment that were similar to those of Schulz and Decker's older group, they reported a greater degree of social support and perceived health status than the older group. Otherwise, the results confirmed Schulz and Decker's conclusions concerning the importance of perceived control and satisfying social contact as major predictors of adjustment. These findings were not mediated by age, time since the onset of injury, or severity of injury.