Post-traumatic growth following spinal cord injury

Abstract

Context/objective: Examine the relationship of post-traumatic psychological growth (PTG), depression, and personal and injury characteristics in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Community. Participants: Eight hundred and twenty-four adults with SCI. Interventions: None. Outcome measures: Five items from the Post-traumatic Growth Inventory, reflecting positive change after injury in life priorities, closeness to others, new opportunities being available, stronger faith, and personal strength. Results: Initial structural equation model testing of a conceptual model of personal and injury characteristics, violent etiology, depression, and PTG resulted in a poor fit. Model modifications resulted in an improved fit, but explained only 5% of the variance in PTG. Being female, younger, having less formal education, and less time since injury had significant relationships with PTG, whereas depression, violent etiology, and injury level/severity did not. In each PTG domain, between 54 and 79% of the sample reported at least some positive change after injury. Conclusions: The results of this study, while promising, explained only a small portion of the variance in PTG. A majority of the sample experienced some positive change after injury, with the greatest change in discovering that they were stronger than they thought they were. Comparing means previously reported in a non-SCI sample of those who experienced trauma, positive change after injury was comparable for each PTG item except for new opportunities being available, which was significantly lower for those with SCI. Future directions of research include the development of theoretical models of PTG after SCI.

Diferencias de sexo en el uso de estrategias de afrontamiento en personas con lesión medular

“…Podemos hipotetizar que esta diferencia significativa entre hombres y mujeres pueda deberse a determinadas variables personales asociadas al afrontamiento del estrés, y a ciertas variables sociodemográficas como el nivel de lesión neurológica (5, 31), la etiología de la lesión (5), la edad y el momento cuando se tuvo la LM (12,19), nivel socioeconómico, la educación (5,12,26), etc. Aunque, en general, son numerosos los estudios que encuentran mayor predisposición de las mujeres con LM a presentar síntomas depresivos y un peor ajuste a la discapacidad (33), pero la falta de consenso teórico y metodológico dificulta llegar a conclusiones firmes.…”

“…El estudio de las estrategias de afrontamiento desde una perspectiva de género en personas con LM ha sido relativamente poco abordado, aunque en los últimos años han aparecido varias publicaciones que evalúan el afrontamiento en mujeres con LM (5,15,30). En general, la literatura señala la no existencia de diferencias significativas de género en las variables psicológi-cas relacionadas con el ajuste a una LM (31).…”

Psychosocial Adjustment After Spinal Cord Injury- Association Between Self-Efficacy and Porpuse in Life

“…Ainda no grupo incluído, os utentes apresentaram uma boa adesão terapêutica e o crescimento pós-traumático foi superior, comparativamente à amostra do estudo de validação, parecendo existirem mudanças positivas após o surgimento da doença, sobretudo ao nível da abertura a possibilidades e envolvimento nas relações e à perceção do self e da vida, resultado encontrado também em outros estudos (Kalpakjian et al, 2014). No entanto, importa considerar que o facto dos utentes se encontrarem, em regime de internamento, e como tal beneficiarem dos recursos disponibilizados pela instituição, nomeadamente o acompanhamento psicológico, se torna um facilitador de melhores níveis de ajustamento.…”

Who is the surgically resilient individual with traumatic spinal cord injury?

“…Active coping strategies have been found to have a strong impact on individual variance in positive recovery outcomes in patients (20,21). But there remains a significant risk of anxiety and depression following SCI, with a 12-month prevalence almost doubling the general population (19).…”

“…Some contributing variables included family relationships, social support, and resilience (16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Active coping strategies have been found to have a strong impact on individual variance in positive recovery outcomes in patients (20,21).…”