The Relationship of Spirituality and Depression to Health Among People with Spinal Cord Injury

This article evaluates the dynamics of spirituality in an aging sample of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). We found that the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapies—Spiritual (FACIT-SP), a commonly used measure of spirituality in other populations, is a valid instrument when used among people with SCI. Age and chronicity did not appear to be associated with spiritual well-being, which was predictive of perceived health status. FACIT-SP scores also explained a significant amount of the variance in scores on the Life Situation Index–Z (LSI-Z), a measure of global life satisfaction, incremental to that explained by measures of depression, perceived health status, and interpersonal support.