Sensation-seeking and traumatic spinal cord injury: case-control study

A retrospective case-control study was carried out to determine whether sensation-seeking preferences were associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). One hundred forty male SCI patients were individually matched by age, race, gender, educational attainment at the time of SCI, and current zip code with 140 current Louisiana driver's license holders. Participants were interviewed by telephone. Sensation-seeking was assessed by the Disinhibition (Dis) and Boredom Susceptibility (BS) subscales of Zuckerman's Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS, Form V). Although an earlier study found no difference on the SSS between a group of SCI patients and published norms, modest but statistically significant differences were found between SCI subjects and control subjects with respect to both subscales and the combined SSS score. The mean difference on the latter was 1.6 units on a scale of 0-20 (t = 4.11, p = .0001). Compared to patients scoring below the tenth percentile on the SSS, those scoring above the 90th percentile were significantly younger at the time of SCI, more likely to report an arrest before their SCI, and more likely to be using drugs or alcohol at the time of SCI.