Gender, race, pain, and subjective well-being of adults with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE

Assess the relationship of race and gender with subjective well-being (SWB) and determine if pain severity and pain interference mediated that relationship.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study of 2,416 people with traumatic SCI. Subjective well-being (home life, vocational, and global) was measured by the Life Situation Questionnaire.

RESULTS

Pain severity and pain interference were significantly correlated with each SWB domain. Race was initially significantly associated with home life and vocational SWB. Blacks were more likely to report lower scores on home life and vocational SWB than whites. After accounting for pain severity and pain interference, race was still associated with vocational and home life SWB. Gender differences were seen in relation to vocational SWB, even after controlling for pain severity and interference.

CONCLUSIONS

Pain severity and pain interference only partially mediated SWB. Gender and race were associated with lower vocational SWB. Future research should assess potential explanations for this disparity.