Dimensions of subjective well-being after spinal cord injury: an empirical analysis by gender and race/ethnicity.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to identify the underlying dimensions of subjective well-being after spinal cord injury (SCI), and (2) to develop reliable scales based on measurement of these dimensions.

DESIGN

A field study was conducted by surveying the subjective well-being of two large samples of participants with SCI. Principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation was applied to participant responses to 50 subjective well-being items.

SETTING

All participants were selected from the outpatient files of two midwestern rehabilitation hospitals and from a large southeastern rehabilitation hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

There were a total of 1,032 participants, 435 from the Midwest and 597 from the Southeast.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The Life Situation Questionnaire-revised version (LSQ-R) was used to measure subjective well-being. It included two prominent sections, one for life satisfaction (20 items) and the other for self-reported problems (30 items).

RESULTS

Seven subjective well-being factor scales were identified across the full participant sample: Engagement, Negative Affect, Health Problems, Career Opportunities, Finances, Living Circumstances, and Interpersonal Relations. The average alpha coefficient was .86 for the factor scales. Separate analyses of the midwestern and southeastern samples suggested stability of the factor structure, although gender and race/ ethnicity were related to subtle differences in subjective well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that rehabilitation professionals need to pay attention to multiple aspects of subjective well-being after SCI.