PERSONAL STYLES AND WAYS OF COPING IN INDIVIDUALS WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS

To obtain information about the psychological needs of wheelchair user s, 45 subjects participating in a university-based drop-in physical ac tivity centre and outpatient rehabilitation program completed the Pers onal Styles Inventory and the Ways of Coping Inventory. Three groups o f subjects were formed, differentiated by etiology for their disabilit y. Results suggested that subjects with brain injury possessed the mos t limited coping resources. Subjects with multiple sclerosis were high est of the three groups in the frequency of utilization of emotional c oping, they also revealed a fundamentally introverted and stability-ba sed personality style, Subjects with spinal cord injuries utilized a p redominantly Problem-solving means of coping; and they revealed a basi c personality style characterized as extroverted and stable. The findi ngs suggest that disease process (perhaps through common preexisting p sychological characteristics, the nature of the onset and progression of the disease process, and/or tissue damage) may modify the ability t o adapt and cope with the need to use a wheelchair. The nature of psyc hological support to be offered should reflect not only the use of a w heelchair but also the underlying personality and its modification by the nature of the disease process.