PREDICTION OF LIFE SATISFACTION AFTER SPINAL-CORD INJURY - A 4-YEAR LONGITUDINAL APPROACH

The purpose of this study was to predict life satisfaction after spinal cord injury (SCI). Responses to the Life Situation Questionnaire (LSQ) were obtained in 1985 and 1989 from 286 persons with SCI. Multidimensional Personality Questionnaires (MPQ) were obtained in 1989 only. Multiple regression was used to identify the optimal predictors of 1989 satisfaction from predictor variables taken in 1985 and 1989. Results suggested that the predictors accounted for a greater percentage of variation in General Satisfaction as opposed to Economic Satisfaction. As expected, concurrent prediction was superior to the four-year longitudinal prediction. Adjustment measures were better predictors of satisfaction than were demographic and injury-related predictors (e.g., age, injury severity). A different pattern of predictors was identified between the two satisfaction areas. The results were maintained following cross-validation. This study implicated the importance of using nondemographic and injury-related variables to predict later satisfaction, the need to differentiate between different dimensions of satisfaction (economic versus general) when predicting long-term outcomes, and the need to address psychological variables when working with persons with SCI.