Coping Strategies, Physical Function, and Social Adjustment in People with Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

This descriptive study examined the role of coping strategies as predictors of physical function and social adjustment in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). A sample of 128 community-residing individuals with SCI completed the structured questionnaire that included demographic characteristics and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and Social Adjustment Scale (SAS) to measure participants' coping, physical function, and social adjustment, respectively. Among the eight factors of the WCQ, planful problem solving was used most frequently by the participants. The remaining coping strategies, except escape-avoidance, were positively correlated with social adjustment, whereas no significant correlations were found between coping and physical function. Positive reappraisal, accepting responsibility, and distancing accounted for 33.5% of the social adjustment for people with SCI. Results highlight the importance of considering coping strategies in designing interventions to facilitate social adjustment and rehabilitation in this population.