Exploring the Influence of Leisure on Adjustment: Development of the Leisure and Spinal Cord Injury Adjustment Model

While recent studies have demonstrated the significance of leisure in the initial phases of spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation, the impact of leisure experience on adjustment and the dynamics of that influence have yet to be adequately clarified. Development of skills to effectively manage leisure becomes critical in the community reintegration process, especially for those who are at risk for poor social and psychological adjustment after injury. Although leisure activities may contribute to well-being among individuals with SCI, the lack of understanding of the dynamics of that influence offers little direction for selection of activity alternatives and design of leisure interventions. This study attempted to answer the following research questions: (1) Does leisure engagement influence the adjustment of individuals with SCI? (2) If leisure engagement does influence adjustment, what influence do variations in leisure activity have on the adjustment of individuals with SCI? (3) Does social support mediate the influence of leisure on adjustment of individuals with SCI? The leisure and SCI adjustment model was constructed to provide one possible explanation of the influence of leisure on the adjustment of individuals with SCI. The model proposed that: (a) leisure engagement has a direct influence on the adjustment of individuals with SCI and (b) leisure engagement has an indirect influence on adjustment to SCI through the promotion of social support. Results from structural equation modeling confirmed that the leisure and SCI adjustment model was an "acceptable" fit to data but left a sufficiently large amount of unexplained variance to suggest the need for further examination of alternative models of SCI adjustment. The use of multiple regression and bivariate correlations suggested that diversity, frequency, and intensity of leisure engagement were associated with the adjustment of individuals with SCI.