Article

OBJECTIVES: To examine the course of mental health and psychological factors over
time in persons with a recent spinal cord injury and to determine whether change
in psychological factors is associated with change in mental health. DESIGN:
Prospective cohort study in the Netherlands with 3 measurement time-points.
SUBJECTS: A total of 60 persons with recently acquired spinal cord injury.
METHODS: Standardized validated measurement instruments were used to assess
mental health, self-efficacy, mastery, optimism, illness cognitions, purpose in
life, and social compa-rison. Descriptive statistics and multilevel analysis were
used. RESULTS: Multilevel regression analyses showed that neither mental health
nor psychological factors, except for social comparison-upward identification,
showed statistically significant change over time. However, increasing scores for
self-efficacy, mastery, acceptance cognitions, and purpose in life were
significantly associated with increasing mental health. In contrast, increasing
scores for optimism, social comparison, helplessness cognitions, and disease
benefits cognitions were not significantly associated with increasing mental
health in persons with spinal cord injury. CONCLUSION: Most psychological factors
showed stability up to 6 months post-discharge. Purpose in life, acceptance
cognitions, self-efficacy, and mastery showed more variability and seem to be
most promising as targets for interventions, which may lead to an improvement in
mental health in persons with spinal cord injury.

Langue : ANGLAIS