1. Examination of the Relationships Among Social Networks and Loneliness on Health and Life Satisfaction in People with Spinal Cord Injury/Dysfunction.
- Author
-
Hitzig SL, Cimino SR, Alavinia M, Bassett-Gunter RL, Craven BC, and Guilcher SJT
- Subjects
- Activities of Daily Living, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Ontario, Physical Therapy Modalities, Quality of Life, Rehabilitation Centers, Residence Characteristics, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Spinal Cord Injuries rehabilitation, Health Status, Loneliness psychology, Personal Satisfaction, Social Networking, Spinal Cord Injuries psychology
- Abstract
Objective: To examine the associations among social networks and loneliness on health and life satisfaction in adults with chronic spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D)., Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey study., Setting: Tertiary spinal cord injury rehabilitation center in Ontario, Canada., Participants: Community-dwelling adults with chronic SCI/D (N=170)., Interventions: Not applicable., Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were the Short-Form 36 to assess health and the Life Satisfaction-11 to assess life satisfaction., Results: A hierarchical regression model predicting physical health accounted for 24% (P<.001) of the variance. The only social network variable to significantly contribute to the model was having a higher proportion of network members living in one's household (P<.05). A model predicting mental health accounted for 44% (P<.001) of the variance, with having a higher proportion of network members living in one's household (P<.05) and lower feelings of loneliness (P<.001) associated with better mental health. Finally, the model predicting life satisfaction accounted for 62% (P<.001) of the variance, with lower greater levels of social network intimacy (P<.01) and lower feelings of loneliness (P<.001) being significant predictors., Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of having access to network members in one's home for better physical and mental health after SCI/D as well as the negative association between loneliness and mental health and life satisfaction. There is a need for approaches to ensure that people with SCI/D in the community feel supported to mitigate feelings of loneliness to optimize their health and wellbeing., (Copyright © 2021 The American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF