Article

OBJECTIVE: To identify the stability of vocational interests first assessed
during inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury and again an average of
834.9 days postinjury to determine the extent to which stability of interest
varies as a function of race and sex. DESIGN: Longitudinal. SETTING: Data were
collected at a specialty hospital. PARTICIPANTS: At enrollment, participants were
a minimum of 16 years of age, were currently hospitalized for inpatient
rehabilitation, were less than 6 months postinjury, had residual impairment after
traumatic spinal cord injury, and were either white or black, and non-Hispanic.
Participants (N=304) were assessed an average +/- SD of 50+/-26.6 days after
injury and again an average +/- SD of 834.9+/-192.7 days postinjury (averaged
785.1 d between assessments). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURE: The Strong Interest Inventory, a 317-item vocational interests measure.
RESULTS: A repeated-measures general linear model was used with 4 groups based on
a combination of race and sex. Significant cohort by time interactions were
observed on 4 general occupational themes (investigative, artistic, enterprising,
and conventional). In nearly all cases, black women showed decreases in average
interest scores compared with the other groups. There was a clear pattern of
change in the direction of greater homogeneity of interests over time as measured
by the range of theme scores between cohorts based on sex and race. Although
changes in mean interest profiles varied as a function of sex and race, less
consistent differences were observed when stability coefficients were the measure
of change. CONCLUSIONS: The direction and degree of change in mean scores for
vocational interests was related to sex and race. With the exception of black
women, vocational interests increased from baseline to follow-up.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS