The affective aspect of subjective well-being among Chinese people with and without spinal cord injuries.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) To examine differences in affective aspects of subjective well-being between people with and without spinal cord injuries (SCI), and (b) to explore relationships among perceived health, social support, self-efficacy beliefs, and the affective aspect of subjective well-being in these groups.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China. A total of 119 out-patients with SCI and 109 college students without a disability participated in the study. Main outcome measures included: (a) The Index of Psychological Well-Being, (b) the Self-Rated Health Status Scale, (c) the Self-Efficacy Scale, and (d) the Social Support Scale.


RESULTS
A multiple analysis of the variance indicated that participants with SCI had lower affective subjective well-being, social support, social self-efficacy beliefs, and poor health compared to participants without SCI [F (5, 211) = 22.37, p < 0.001]. A hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was conducted separately for each SCI and non-SCI group. Results indicated that the combination of perceived health, social support, and social self-efficacy accounted for 25% of the variance in affective subjective well-being [F (8, 104) = 4.22, p < 0.001] among participants with SCI. For participants without SCI, social support and social self-efficacy were related to the affective subjective well-being [F (7, 97) = 4.77, p < 0.001]. They accounted for 27% of the variance in affective subjective well-being.


CONCLUSIONS
People with SCI may have lower affective subjective well-being than those without SCI, and the perceptions of one's health, social skills, and social support may play important roles in achieving affective subjective well-being in people with SCI.
Hampton
Nan Zhang
NZ
Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, & Postsecondary Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92108, USA. nhampton@mail.sdsu.edu
D000328:Adult; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D055815:Young Adult