Partners of men with spinal cord injury: An exploration of stress, depression and burden

A spinal cord injury (SCI) can have a devastating affect on both the individual sustaining the injury and family members. Within an overarching conceptual framework of attachment theory, a sample of 137 couples who were married before the SCI and had remained married a minimum of 5 years post-injury were interviewed to explore quantitative and qualitative perceptions of stress, depression and burden in wives of men with SCI. Stress was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), depression by the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and burden by the Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI). Nine couples participated in additional qualitative interviews. The study hypotheses were: (1) partners of men with SCI will report greater stress and depression than their injured partners; (2) partners of men with SCI who provide more than 10 hours per week of assistance will report greater stress, depression and burden than those providing 10 hour or less of assistance; (3) older partners of men with SCI will report less stress, depression and burden than younger partners; and (4) in couples who demonstrate greater similarity of attachment styles, female partners will report less stress, depression and burden than in those couples with less similar attachment styles.; Results indicate that the men with SCI were significantly more depressed than their wives. Wives who provided more than 10 hours of assistance had significantly greater perceived burden than those who provided 10 or fewer hours of assistance. Older spouses had significantly higher PSS scores than younger spouses. The only significant difference related to attachment style was in the Emotional Burden subscale of the CBI, which was higher for those in relationships with more similar attachment styles. The qualitative interviews highlighted the importance of establishing independence for husbands and wives, and the importance of family and of social support on helping minimize perceptions of stress, depression and burden.; This investigation has provided new and unique insights into the nature of marriages that survive SCI, offering information to health and service providers to guide them in developing intervention programs that may help families cope more effectively with the consequences of SCI.