General and condition-specific measures of coping strategies in persons with spinal cord lesion

Abstract

We examined psychometric properties and validity of a general (Ways of Coping Questionnaire; WCQ) and a condition-specific (Spinal Cord Lesion-related Coping Strategies Questionnaire; SCL CSQ) measure of coping strategies. The sample included 181 community-residing traumatically spinal cord lesioned persons aged 16 – 85 years. Multi-trait/multi-item analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression were used. Reliability and validity estimates were acceptable in most instances for the SCL CSQ, whereas the validity of the WCQ was inadequate. The SCL CSQ showed a significant relationship with the overall quality of life outcome measure, whereas the WCQ did not. We recommend condition-specific measures of coping strategies, and that the combination with coping style measures be tested in medical populations.

Keywords:

• Coping behaviour
• psychometrics
• quality of life
• spinal cord injuries
• validation studies

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Association of Cancer and Road Accidents (CTRF), the Foundation for Rehabilitation Research (FRF), the Norrbacka – Eugenia Foundation and the Vardal Foundation, Sweden.

Notes

The term lesion in spinal cord lesion (SCL) is used as recommended by the International Spinal Cord Society instead of injury, that is, spinal cord injury (SCI). However, many writers still use injury and the terms are used interchangeably.