Abstract
Post MW, van Leeuwen CM, van Koppenhagen CF, de Groot S. Validity of the Life Satisfaction
questions, the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale
in persons with spinal cord injury.
Objective
To assess and compare the validity of 3 life satisfaction instruments in persons with
spinal cord injury (SCI).
Design
Cross-sectional study 5 years after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation.
Setting
Eight rehabilitation centers with specialized SCI units.
Participants
Persons (N=225) with recently acquired SCI between 18 and 65 years of age were included
in a cohort study. Data were available for 145 persons 5 years after discharge.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
The Life Satisfaction questions (LS Questions), the Life Satisfaction Questionnaire
(LiSat-9), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).
Results
There were no floor or ceiling effects. Cronbach α was questionable for the LS Questions
(.60), satisfactory for the LiSat-9 (.75), and good for the SWLS (.83). Concurrent
validity was shown by strong and significant Spearman correlations (.59–.60) between
all 3 life satisfaction instruments. Correlations with measures of mental health and
participation were .52 to .56 for the LS Questions, .45 to .52 for the LiSat-9, and
.41 to .48 for the SWLS. Divergent validity was shown by weak and in part nonsignificant
correlations between the 3 life satisfaction measures and measures of functional independence
and lesion characteristics.
Conclusions
Overall, the validity of all 3 life satisfaction measures was supported. Despite questionable
internal consistency, the concurrent and divergent validity of the LS Questions was
at least as good as the validity of the LiSat-9 and the SWLS.
Key Words
List of Abbreviations:
AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale), LiSat-9 (Life Satisfaction Questionnaire), LS Questions (Life Satisfaction Questions), MHI-5 (Mental Health Scale of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey), SCI (spinal cord injury), SF-36 (36-Item Short-Form Health Survey), SIP-SOC (social dimension of the Sickness Impact Profile 68), SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 05, 2012
Footnotes
Supported by the Dutch Health Research and Development Council, ZON-MW Rehabilitation program (grant nos. 1435.0003, 1435.0025).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Reprints are not available from the author.
In-press corrected proof published online on May 16, 2012, at www.archives-pmr.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
