Psychological morbidities and positive psychological outcomes in people with traumatic spinal cord injury in Mainland China

Study design Cross-sectional survey. Objectives To explore the prevalences of three psychological morbidities (posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression) and two positive psychological outcomes (resilience and posttraumatic growth) in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). To examine the relationships between the five aforementioned variables and to determine the predictors of the three psychological morbidities. Setting Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center, Mainland China. Methods Participants included 300 adults with SCI in one rehabilitation center in Shanghai. Standardized self-report measures were used. Sociodemographic, injury, and psychological variables were assessed. Descriptive analyses were used to calculate the prevalences of five psychological outcome variables. Pearson correlation analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between the five psychological variables and regression analyses were conducted to determine the predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. Results Of the 300 respondents, 35%, 29%, and 27% exceeded the clinical cutoff score for PTSD, anxiety, and depression, respectively. About 32% reported good resilience, and 51% reported moderate to high levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Three psychological morbidities showed positive correlations between each other while significant negative relationships with the resilience and PTG. Hierarchical regressions indicated that both the extent of environmental barriers and resilience were the significant predictors of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Conclusion High prevalences of psychological morbidities were found in the SCI population in Mainland China. They should be identified and intervened early in the rehabilitation process. Some positive psychological techniques that focus on increasing resilience and promoting PTG would likely be beneficial for the SCI population.