Sigmund Hough

Psychosocial predictors of employment status among men living with spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVEnTo explore the relationship between employment status and community access, perceived community discrimination, social support from significant others, depressive symptoms, and gender-related variables for 83 men living with spinal cord injury.nnnSTUDY DESIGNnCorrelational research.nnnSETTINGnInternet-based investigation employing spinal cord injury listservs.nnnMAIN OUTCOME MEASUREnParticipant employment status.nnnRESULTSnA forced-entry hierarchical logistic regression indicated that means of injury, community access and perceived community discrimination, social support from significant others, depressive symptoms, and mens adherence to masculine norms for primacy of work, self-reliance, and emotional control significantly predicted employment status.nnnCONCLUSIONSnPsychosocial variables such as community access, perceived discrimination, social support from significant others, depressive symptoms, and gender identity represent important and understudied predictors of employment status among men living with spinal cord injury.

Men’s Adjustment to Spinal Cord Injury: The Unique Contributions of Conformity to Masculine Gender Norms

Men constitute 82% of the approximately 250,000 people in the United States living with a spinal cord injury. Unfortunately, however, little is known about the impact of men’s adherence to gender norms on their adjustment to such injuries. The present investigation examined the utility of masculine norms in explaining variance in depression beyond that accounted for by commonly identified predictors of men’s adjustment following spinal cord injury. As hypothesized, results suggested that men’s adherence to masculine norms accounted for unique variance in their depression scores beyond that contributed by social support, environmental barriers/access, and erectile functioning. Respondents who adhered to norms stressing the primacy of men’s work demonstrated lower rates of depression, whereas those who conformed to norms for self-reliance demonstrated higher depression scores. The authors discuss future research directions and potential psychotherapeutic strategies for working with men with spinal cord injuries.

Sex and Chronic Physical Illness

Chronic physical illness can have a devastating impact for the individual, family, and significant others. The fact is that illness over time carries an additional burden upon the individual and one’s psychosocial world. At times, a person’s life desires and expectations are pushed aside. Fortitude and strength are now channeled into finding one’s resiliency to endure and carry out day-to-day activities of daily living. A psychophysiological approach to chronic physical illness embraces the understanding that sexuality can be an important part of living. Thus, it is a necessary part of assessment and intervention, and a crucial element for integrated holistic health care to maximize function and quality of living is needed.