The present study examined the relationships between humor coping, health status, and life satisfaction among older residents of assisted living facilities. A structural equation model with latent variables was specified for the three variables. Health status was expected to directly affect humor coping and life satisfaction. Humor coping was hypothesized to have a direct association with life satisfaction and indirectly affect the relationship between health status and life satisfaction. Participants completed the Multidimensional Functional Assessment Questionnaire, Coping Humor Scale, and Life Satisfaction Index A. The relationships between health status and humor coping and health status and life satisfaction were statistically significant. Both the direct association of humor coping on life satisfaction and the intervening role between health status and life satisfaction were not supported. Humor as a coping strategy seems to be available to older adults who are in better health.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between various coping-related variables and the evaluation of self-worth and subjective well-being among persons with spinal cord injury. Positive coping variables included hope, proactive coping style, and sense of humor, whereas negative coping variables included perceptions of stress, dysfunctional attitudes, and catastrophizing. Evaluations of self-worth were determined by measures of self-esteem and acceptance of disability. Quality of life and life satisfaction were indicators of subjective well-being. The results of the study indicate that negative coping has a negative association with both positive self-worth and subjective well-being. Feelings of positive self-worth were found to be positively associated with subjective well-being. In addition, positive coping appears to influence subjective well-being positively by first increasing feelings of positive self-worth. The findings indicate that coping strategies play an important role in the psychosocial adjustment of individuals with disabilities, and subsequently, in their quality of life. The implications for counseling individuals with disabilities are discussed.

Future research, combined with appropriate pre-service and continuing education related to substance abuse and disability for rehabilitation practitioners, has the potential to lead to improved psychosocial outcomes in persons with disabilities.

• The acceptance and integration of persons with disabilities into society continues to be limited by negative attitudes.• Previous research has shown that employers with positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities maybe more likely to hire a person with a disability than employers with negative attitudes.• In this study, students who watched a humorous film reported significantly more positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities than students who watched a serious film or no film at all.• Consequently, it may be beneficial to embed disability humor into job-placement strategies in order to improve attitudes and positively influence hiring decisions.]

This article explores issues related to substance use disorders in persons with physical disabilities and the commonalities of the parallel research in recovery and adaptation to disability. An approach for converging these areas of research is presented. Parallel research in substance abuse counseling and rehabilitation counseling reveals that quality of life is an indicator of both adaptation to disability and recovery from substance use disorders. Despite this common outcome, the interaction of adapting to a disability and recovery from a substance use disorder has not been adequately addressed in the literature. A more integrative approach to counseling individuals with disabilities may be achieved with a better understanding of the complex relationship between quality of life, adaptation to disability, and substance use disorder. A converged approach to research is discussed in relation to the development of counseling interventions that improve the quality of life of persons with physical disabilities.