Coping and emotional attributions following spinal cord injury

Ways of Coping Checklist-Revised protocols gathered from 35 persons with spinal cord injuries on admission to an in-patient rehabilitation unit were cluster analysed using Ward's method. A two-cluster solution was produced reflecting patterns of coping similar to Lazarus und Folkman's (1984) emotion- and problem-focused dichotomy. These patterns of coping were validated against sets of demographic/medical and emotional adjustment/attribution variables gathered on discharge. Results showed that a group of subjects using emotion-focused coping styles reported greater ratings of depression. These subjects focused less on physical and therapy progress to promote positive feelings and focused more on thoughts about the accident. There was also a trend for physical setbacks to contribute to negative mood in these patients. This pattern was associated with having been readmitted to hospital. The clinical and research implications of the study are discussed.