Goal striving and maladaptive coping in adults living with spinal cord injury: associations with affective well-being.
OBJECTIVE
The current study examined how goal engagement and two coping strategies (self-blame and denial) hypothesized to prevent successful disengagement relate to affective well-being among adults with a functional disability.


METHODS
Ninety-nine community-dwelling adults (23 to 76 years old, 66 men) with spinal cord injury participated in structured interviews assessing affective well-being using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988); goal engagement using a modified version of the Optimization, Primary, and Secondary Control Scale (Heckhausen, Schulz, & Wrosch, 1998); and self-blame and denial using items from Carver's (1997) Brief COPE Inventory.


RESULTS
Greater goal engagement was significantly associated with positive but not negative affect. Greater use of self-blame and denial coping was associated with lower positive affect for older adults and higher negative affect across the age range.


CONCLUSIONS
Mackay
James
J
University of California, Irvine, USA.
Charles
Susan T
ST
Kemp
Bryan
B
Heckhausen
Jutta
J
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult