Pain, Mental Health, Life Satisfaction, and Understanding From Others in Veterans With Spinal Cord Injury

Purpose/Objective: This study evaluated the relationships among pain, mental health symptom severity, life satisfaction, and understanding from others in veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI). Research Method/Design: A sample of 221 individuals with SCI were interviewed by a psychologist during their annual evaluation in a Veterans Affairs medical center in an urban Mid-Atlantic region. Participants completed single-item, Likert-scale measures of life satisfaction (McGuire Health Impact on Participation [M-HIP]), pain severity (M-HIP), and understanding of others (from a modified Appraisals of DisAbility Primary and Secondary Scale-Short Form [ADAPSS-sf]), along with the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), a measure of mental health symptom severity. Results: In linear regression models, pain (beta = .29, p < .001) and understanding from others (beta = -.28, p < .001) were significantly associated with mental health symptom severity with a marginally significant interaction effect (beta = -.32, p = .099). Pain (beta = -.33, p < .001) and understanding from others (beta = .32, p < .001) were also significantly associated with life satisfaction; however, there was no significant interaction (beta = .22, p = .234). Conclusion/Implications: This study showed that understanding from others and pain are important factors related to mental health and life satisfaction for veterans with SCI and highlights interventions targeting these relations. Impact and Implications The current study highlights the importance of assessing empathy/understanding from others as a key predictor of psychological outcomes for individuals with SCI. Clinicians and rehabilitation specialists may wish to expand practices geared toward facilitating understanding of SCI for caregivers and other individuals with close relationships to people with SCI. Clinicians and rehabilitation specialists, especially those working closely with caregivers, may wish to incorporate exercises and training modules designed to help caregivers communicate empathy, understanding, and validation. Health care facilities may introduce or expand training for staff that increases knowledge of SCI and helps facilitate empathic and caring interactions with individuals with SCI.