With the advent of better emergency response and medical advances, the life expectancy of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) is about 85% to 90% compared to that of non-disabled persons. Since SCI survivors are living well into their 70s, quality of life (QOL) is a major concern. The purpose of this study, informed by Ferrell and Grant's Quality of Life Model, was to examine relationships between spiritual well-being (SWB), existential well-being (EWB), religious spiritual well-being (RWB), depression, length of injury, age, gender, ethnicity, and QOL while living with paraplegia one year and longer. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design, with convenience sampling of 75 participants was implemented. Instruments used to measure the influence of variables included Ellison's Spiritual Well-Being Scale, The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and a Quality of Life scale measuring subjective quality of life directly through a visual analog. Findings included relatively high SWB scores, with existential well-being (EWB) having a strong relationship with QOL (r = .63, p = .01). Other significant relationships included SWB Total and QOL (r = .47, p = .01) and inversely between depression and QOL (r = -.59, p = .01). Regression analysis indicated that the variables of existential well-being, spiritual well-being total, and depression were the primary predictors of quality of life. In conclusion, participants who had a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life, whether or not religious, were more likely to have a higher subjective QOL. Implications of this study for future research include conducting a qualitative study addressing the questions: What does spiritual well-being mean to the person with paraplegia, and what contributes to the person's subjective quality of life?
","abstract_html":"<p>With the advent of better emergency response and medical advances, the life expectancy of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) is about 85% to 90% compared to that of non-disabled persons. Since SCI survivors are living well into their 70s, quality of life (QOL) is a major concern. The purpose of this study, informed by Ferrell and Grant's Quality of Life Model, was to examine relationships between spiritual well-being (SWB), existential well-being (EWB), religious spiritual well-being (RWB), depression, length of injury, age, gender, ethnicity, and QOL while living with paraplegia one year and longer. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design, with convenience sampling of 75 participants was implemented. Instruments used to measure the influence of variables included Ellison's Spiritual Well-Being Scale, The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and a Quality of Life scale measuring subjective quality of life directly through a visual analog. Findings included relatively high SWB scores, with existential well-being (EWB) having a strong relationship with QOL (r = .63, p = .01). Other significant relationships included SWB Total and QOL (r = .47, p = .01) and inversely between depression and QOL (r = -.59, p = .01). Regression analysis indicated that the variables of existential well-being, spiritual well-being total, and depression were the primary predictors of quality of life. In conclusion, participants who had a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life, whether or not religious, were more likely to have a higher subjective QOL. Implications of this study for future research include conducting a qualitative study addressing the questions: What does spiritual well-being mean to the person with paraplegia, and what contributes to the person's subjective quality of life?</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Nelson Finocchiaro, Darlene, PhD, MSN, RN, CRRN"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"PhD Nursing","degree_level":"Dissertation: Open Access","degree_discipline":"Nursing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-02-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-02-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:41:49Z","subjects":["Depression","existential well-being","nursing","Paraplegia","quality of life","religious well-being","Spinal cord injury","spiritual well-being"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/402","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Nelson Finocchiaro, Darlene, PhD, MSN, RN, CRRN"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-06-28T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Nursing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation: Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["PhD Nursing"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Depression","existential well-being","nursing","Paraplegia","quality of life","religious well-being","Spinal cord injury","spiritual well-being"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/402"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With the advent of better emergency response and medical advances, the life expectancy of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) is about 85% to 90% compared to that of non-disabled persons. Since SCI survivors are living well into their 70s, quality of life (QOL) is a major concern. The purpose of this study, informed by Ferrell and Grant's Quality of Life Model, was to examine relationships between spiritual well-being (SWB), existential well-being (EWB), religious spiritual well-being (RWB), depression, length of injury, age, gender, ethnicity, and QOL while living with paraplegia one year and longer. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design, with convenience sampling of 75 participants was implemented. Instruments used to measure the influence of variables included Ellison's Spiritual Well-Being Scale, The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and a Quality of Life scale measuring subjective quality of life directly through a visual analog. Findings included relatively high SWB scores, with existential well-being (EWB) having a strong relationship with QOL (r = .63, p = .01). Other significant relationships included SWB Total and QOL (r = .47, p = .01) and inversely between depression and QOL (r = -.59, p = .01). Regression analysis indicated that the variables of existential well-being, spiritual well-being total, and depression were the primary predictors of quality of life. In conclusion, participants who had a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life, whether or not religious, were more likely to have a higher subjective QOL. Implications of this study for future research include conducting a qualitative study addressing the questions: What does spiritual well-being mean to the person with paraplegia, and what contributes to the person's subjective quality of life?
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Spiritual Well-Being and Quality of Life among Persons with Paraplegia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Nelson Finocchiaro, Darlene, PhD, MSN, RN, CRRN"],"dc:date.available":["2021-06-28T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["With the advent of better emergency response and medical advances, the life expectancy of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) is about 85% to 90% compared to that of non-disabled persons. Since SCI survivors are living well into their 70s, quality of life (QOL) is a major concern. The purpose of this study, informed by Ferrell and Grant's Quality of Life Model, was to examine relationships between spiritual well-being (SWB), existential well-being (EWB), religious spiritual well-being (RWB), depression, length of injury, age, gender, ethnicity, and QOL while living with paraplegia one year and longer. A descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional design, with convenience sampling of 75 participants was implemented. Instruments used to measure the influence of variables included Ellison's Spiritual Well-Being Scale, The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and a Quality of Life scale measuring subjective quality of life directly through a visual analog. Findings included relatively high SWB scores, with existential well-being (EWB) having a strong relationship with QOL (r = .63, p = .01). Other significant relationships included SWB Total and QOL (r = .47, p = .01) and inversely between depression and QOL (r = -.59, p = .01). Regression analysis indicated that the variables of existential well-being, spiritual well-being total, and depression were the primary predictors of quality of life. In conclusion, participants who had a strong sense of purpose and meaning in life, whether or not religious, were more likely to have a higher subjective QOL. Implications of this study for future research include conducting a qualitative study addressing the questions: What does spiritual well-being mean to the person with paraplegia, and what contributes to the person's subjective quality of life?
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/402"],"dc:subject":["Depression","existential well-being","nursing","Paraplegia","quality of life","religious well-being","Spinal cord injury","spiritual well-being"],"dc:title":["Spiritual Well-Being and Quality of Life among Persons with Paraplegia"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Nursing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation: Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["PhD Nursing"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:41:49Z"}