Identifying Depression, Hopelessness, and Affect in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury

Research Objectives: To investigate the associations between depression symptomatology, hopelessness, and affect in people with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: Cross-sectional observational study on adults with chronic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and matched healthy controls.

Setting: University Laboratory

Participants: Two groups of participants were recruited: SCI (n=12) and matched controls (n=12) based on age and body mass index (BMI).

Interventions: Participants completed the following psychological questionnaires: Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology- Self Report (QIDS-SR), Becks Hopelessness Inventory (BHS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS).

Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcomes are the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self Report (QIDS-SR), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) questionnaires scores.

Results: Twenty-four adults completed this study (SCI: n=12, matched controls (MC): n=12). The SCI group had significantly higher QIDS-SR scores compared to MC group. The SCI group had a significantly higher hopelessness and negative affect scores compared to MC group. There was no significant difference for positive affect between the two groups.

Conclusions: Mild or moderate depression was identified with QIDS-SR in some SCI participants that did not have a depression diagnosis. SCI individuals with complete injuries, shorter duration of injuries, and higher neurological levels of injury had higher QIDS-SR total scores. Evaluating hopelessness and negative affect in addition to QIDS-SR provided a more comprehensive understanding of participants’ depressive experiences after SCI.

Author(s) Disclosures: There are no disclosures or conflicts of interest to declare.