Schulz & Decker (1985): study US 1985

Publication

Author(s):

Schulz, R.; Decker, S.

Title:

Longterm Adjustment to Physical Disability: The Role of Social Support, Perceived Control and Self-Blame.

Source:

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1985, Vol. 48, 1162 - 1172

Investigation

Public

40+ aged, spinal-cord-injured, non-institutionalised, Portland Oregon, USA, 198?

Sample

Respondents

N = 100

Non Response

4%

Assessment

Interview: face-to-face
Structured interview, partly by telephone

Happiness Measure(s) and Distributional Findings

Full text:

Self report on 8 questions:

"Here is a list that describes some of the ways people feel at different times. How often do you feel each of these ways?"
A  Very lonely or remote from other people
B  Depressed or very unhappy
C  Bored
D  So restless you couldn't sit long in a chair
E  Vaguely uneasy about something without knowing why
F  On top of the world
G  Particularly excited or interested in something
H  Pleased about having accomplished something

Answer options:
0  never
1  sometimes
3  often
Summation:
Positive Affect Score (PAS): summed scores on F, G, H
Negative Affect Score (NAS): summed scores on A, B, C, D, E
Affect Balance Score (ABS): PAS minus NAS

Possible range  -15 to +9
Transformed to a 7 point scale, where 1 is all or almost all positive feelings and 7 is all or almost all negative feelings.
1 = neg 0-1 and pos 7-9
2 = neg 0-1 and pos 4-6
2 = neg 2-3 and pos 7-9
3 = neg 0-1 and pos 3
3 = neg 2-3 and pos 4-6
3 = neg 4-5 and pos 7-9
4 = neg 0-1 and pos 0-2
4 = neg 2-3 and pos 3
4 = neg 4-5 and pos 4-6
4 = neg 6-15 and pos 7-9
5 = neg 2-3 and pos 0-2
5 = neg 4-5 and pos 3
5 = neg 6-15 and pos 4-6
6 = neg 4-5 and pos 0-2
6 = neg 6-15 and pos 3
7 = neg 6-15 and pos 0-2

Name: Berkman modified variation of Bradburn's `Affect Balance Scale'

Classification:

A-BB-g-mq-v-3-a

Author's label:

Psychological well-being

Observed distribution

Summary Statistics

On original range 1 - 7 On range 0-10

Mean:

4.00 5.00

SD:

- -

Correlational Findings

Author's label Subject Description Finding Satisfaction with quality of social contact Satisfaction with quality of personal contacts Percieved control Inner locus of control Self percieved health Global health self-rating Satisfaction with amount of social contact Satisfaction with amount of personal contacts Social support Amount of current support received Joint effect Summed socio-demographic + health + personality + social ties Age Current age (in years) Age at injury Time since handicap Self-blaming Blaming Disabled Physical handicap Perceived avoidability of injury Attitudes to handicap
Attitudes to victimization