PARENTAL AND SPOUSAL ROLE CHANGES AFTER SPINAL CORD INJURY OF A CHILD OR SPOUSE.
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 244
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: There are an estimated 150,000 to 175,000 persons with traumatic spinal cord injury throughout the United States and their numbers are expected to increase by approximately 7500 yearly. The most common age is 19, with a near normal life span expected. Medical advances since World War II have been spectacular, but the unemployment rate for those afflicted still exceed 50% after four years. Many of those unemployed receive no benefits and so depend on parents and other family members for their care and sustenance (Rehab Brief, 1983).

The effect of spinal cord injury on the family system represents a significant crisis for a long time afterward. Each family member is affected by the disability and subsequent dependence of the injured person and each suffers his own personal grief. The individuals most affected by having a family member sustain spinal cord injury, are wives and mothers. The cost of this care and nurturance is initially reflected by many changes in family functioning and by physical and emotional strain of the chief care-giver (Cleveland, 1976/1977). The long term outcome, however, is largely unknown.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between traumatic spinal cord injury and structural role changes by parents and spouses over an extended period of time. Role change was measured by a questionnaire developed by the investigator and based primarily, on the work of Nye (1976).

The subjects for this investigation were readers of the magazine, Paraplegia News and constituted a sample of 215 family members.

Six hypotheses were examined using three correlation statistics. Hypothesis 1, that perception of crisis is related to the level of spinal cord injury, was not supported. Hypothesis 2, that the greater the crisis perceived, the greater the role change experienced, was not supported. Hypothesis 3, that increased dependency by the injured person resulted in more role change was not supported. Hypothesis 4, that parental and spousal roles would assume the pre-injury pattern with the passage of time, was not supported. Hypothesis 5, that satisfaction with role change is inversely related to the amount of role change experienced, was also not supported. Hypothesis 6, that wives of spinal cord injured individuals experience more role change than do mothers, was supported by the data.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-05, Section: B, page: 1302.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1987.

School code: 0227.