Employment after spinal cord injury: Transition and life adjustment

The purpose of this study was to test 2 competing hypotheses regarding employment, adjustment, and spinal cord injury (SCI): (a) Are people who are better adjusted more likely to obtain employment? or (b) Does the experience of becoming employed enhance post-SCI adjustment? Longitudinal data were collected from 142 participants with SCI on 2 occasions separated by an 11-year interval. Enhanced adjustment was correlated with a positive transition from unemployment to employment. Termination of employment seemed to be associated with declines in adjustment. The results were more consistent with the hypothesis that becoming employed leads to superior adjustment, rather than to the reverse.