Citation

Wang Y, Wang H, Wang Z, Xie H, Shi J, Zhao X. J. Health Psychol. 2015; 22(5): 637-649.

Affiliation

School of Medicine, Tongji University, China zhaoxd@tongji.edu.cn.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1359105315610812

PMID

26466850

Abstract

This study aims to explore the process of posttraumatic growth for individuals who have sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants with spinal cord injury from the local community. Interviews were recorded on audiotape and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three superordinate themes emerged: struggling in hopelessness, disentangling from disability, facing challenge, and achieving positive growth. Our findings reveal how individuals with spinal cord injury overcome their disability to achieve personal growth, and can contribute to clinicians' understanding of psychological responses to spinal cord injury while promoting physical and psychological recovery in these individuals.

Language: en