Socioeconomic Status, the Countries' Socioeconomic Development and Mental Health: Observational Evidence for Persons with Spinal Cord Injury from 22 Countries.

Evidence on social inequalities in mental health of persons with physical impairments is limited. We therefore investigate associations of individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) and the country-level socioeconomic development (SED) with mental health in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). We analyzed data from 12,588 participants of the International SCI Community Survey from 22 countries.

Gender dynamics of community-led total sanitation interventions in Mpwapwa District, Tanzania.

Gender equity is an important element of health promotion and is vital to ensuring that the benefits and burdens of participation in health promotion activities are fairly distributed. Yet, the gendered consequences of participatory interventions are often overlooked. This is particularly relevant for water and sanitation initiatives, given that women are generally responsible for maintaining domestic hygiene and procuring water.

Pathways to loneliness: a mediation analysis investigating the social gradient of loneliness in persons with disabilities in Switzerland.

Background: The experience of loneliness can have drastic consequences for health and quality of life. Given that loneliness is highly prevalent in persons with physical disabilities and that loneliness more profoundly affects persons of low socioeconomic status, more evidence is required in order to understand the mechanisms determining loneliness in this population. The objective of this study is therefore to investigate the potential pathways through which socioeconomic status influences loneliness in persons with spinal cord injury.

Are Social Relationships an Underestimated Resource for Mental Health in Persons Experiencing Physical Disability? Observational Evidence From 22 Countries.

As advancing evidence on modifiable resources to support mental health in persons experiencing physical disabilities is of particular importance, we investigate whether structural and functional social relationships relate to mental health in people with spinal cord injury (SCI). Data from 12,330 participants of the International SCI community survey (InSCI) from 22 countries were analyzed. Structural (partnership status, living situation) and functional aspects of social relationships (belongingness, relationship satisfaction, problems with social interactions) were regressed on the SF-36 mental health index (MHI-5), stratified by countries and for the total sample using multilevel models.

Who is at Risk of Loneliness? A Cross-sectional Recursive Partitioning Approach in a Population-based Cohort of Persons With Spinal Cord Injury.

Objective: To develop a more thorough understanding of the risk factors for loneliness in persons with a physical impairment, using a population-based sample of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), based on regression modeling and a recursive partitioning approach.

Design: Cross-sectional, observational cohort.

Setting: Community, Switzerland.

Socioeconomic status and social relationships in persons with spinal cord injury from 22 countries: Does the countries' socioeconomic development moderate associations?

Background: Social relationships are powerful determinants of health and inequalities in social relationships across socioeconomic status (SES) groups may contribute to social inequalities in health. This study investigates inequalities in social relationships in an international sample of persons with spinal cord injury and explores whether social gradients in relationships are moderated by the countries' socioeconomic development (SED).

Methods: Data from 12,330 participants of the International SCI Community Survey (InSCI) performed in 22 countries were used.

Is informal caregiving at odds with optimal health behaviour? A cross-sectional analysis in the caregiving partners of persons with spinal cord injury.

Background: The intricate relationship between caregiving and health may to some extent be determined by the burden and restrictions imposed on informal caregivers, and the impact these experiences have on health behaviours. It is assumed that a positive caregiver experience leads to health promoting behaviours in caregivers, whereas a negative experience induces the opposite. The objective of this study is to test these assumptions and to investigate the association between the caregiver experience and health behaviours in the caregiving partners of persons with severe physical impairment, due to spinal cord injury.

Psychosocial resources and chronic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury: evidence from the second Swiss national community survey.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Objective: To investigate the associations of a set of psychosocial resources with pain and pain-related factors in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and chronic pain.

Setting: Community, Switzerland.

Partnership Status and Living Situation in Persons Experiencing Physical Disability in 22 Countries: Are There Patterns According to Individual and Country-Level Characteristics?

Persons experiencing disabilities often face difficulties to establish and maintain intimate partnerships and the decision whether to live alone or with others is often not their own to make. This study investigates whether individual and country-level characteristics predict the partnership status and the living situation of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) from 22 countries. We used data from 12,591 participants of the International SCI Community Survey (InSCI) and regressed partnership status and living situation on individual (sociodemographic and injury characteristics) and country-level characteristics (Human Development Index, HDI) using multilevel models.

Social inequalities in the burden of care: a dyadic analysis in the caregiving partners of persons with a physical disability.

Background: Socioeconomic position (SEP) is an important contextual factor in the Stress Process Model of caregiving. However, the basic assumption that low SEP is associated with greater caregiver burden has so far lacked empirical support. The objective of this study was to investigate social inequalities in the caregiver burden among caregiving partners of persons with a physical disability, i.

Failed reciprocity in social exchange and wellbeing: evidence from a longitudinal dyadic study in the disability setting.

Failed reciprocity at work and in partnerships was shown to adversely affect wellbeing in general populations, but evidence in disability settings is widely lacking. We explore the effects of failed reciprocity on wellbeing and the impact of the partners' perception of reciprocity on wellbeing in persons with a physical disability and their partners. We use longitudinal dyadic data from the pro-WELL study, a Swiss survey of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their partners ( = 246).

Does well-being suffer when control in productive activities is low? A dyadic longitudinal analysis in the disability setting.

Objectives: We investigate the relationship between control in productive activities (paid work, housework, caregiving) and well-being in persons with a physical disability and their caregiving partners from a dyadic perspective, exploring not only the effect of own control on well-being, but also the effect of the partners' control on well-being. We further evaluated socioeconomic and caregiving characteristics as potential risk factors for low control in productive activities.

Methods: Longitudinal dyadic data from the pro-WELL survey (n = 246) including persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their caregiving partners were used and mixed-effects regression modelling was applied.

Does engagement in productive activities affect mental health and well-being in older adults with a chronic physical disability? Observational evidence from a Swiss cohort study.

To investigate type and load of productive activities as potential determinants of mental health and well-being in elderly persons with a physical disability. We used data from a Swiss population-based sample of 314 adults at or past the legal retirement age (65 for men, 64 for women) who live with a chronic physical disability, spinal cord injury. Engagement in housework, volunteering, and paid work were dichotomized (no; some engagement) and three groups of engagement types were constructed (none; housework only; volunteering and/or paid work).

Mental health in individuals with spinal cord injury: The role of socioeconomic conditions and social relationships.

Objectives: To evaluate socioeconomic inequalities in social relationships, and to assess whether socioeconomic conditions and social relationships are independently related to mental health problems in individuals with a physical disability due to spinal cord injury (SCI).

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from 511 individuals with SCI aged over 16 years who participated in the community survey of the Swiss SCI Cohort Study (SwiSCI). Indicators for socioeconomic conditions included years of formal education, household income, and financial strain.

The impact of loneliness and relationship quality on life satisfaction: A longitudinal dyadic analysis in persons with physical disabilities and their partners.

Objective: Persons with physical disabilities and their caregiving partners are at an increased risk of experiencing reduced life satisfaction. One potential explanation for this trend may be the potentially harmful effects of loneliness and poor relationship quality which this population often experience. To date, little is known about how the perceptions of loneliness and relationship quality affect life satisfaction in the disability and caregiving setting, furthermore the directionality of effect is not well understood.

Health impact of objective burden, subjective burden and positive aspects of caregiving: an observational study among caregivers in Switzerland.

Objective: To investigate associations of objective caregiver burden, subjective caregiver burden and positive aspects of caregiving with self-reported health indicators in caregiving partners of persons with a severe physical disability (spinal cord injury).

Design: Cross-sectional, observational.

Setting: Community, Switzerland.

Social relationships, mental health and wellbeing in physical disability: a systematic review.

Background: Research has consistently found that favourable exchange with one's proximal social environment has positive effects on both mental health and wellbeing. Adults with physical disabilities may have fewer opportunities of favourable exchange, and therefore the effects on mental health and wellbeing may be less advantageous. The aim of this study is to systematically review quantitative studies exploring associations of social relationships with mental health and wellbeing in persons with physical disabilities.

Subjective Caregiver Burden and Caregiver Satisfaction: The Role of Partner Relationship Quality and Reciprocity.

Objective: To explore the effect of relationship quality and reciprocity in partnerships on subjective caregiver burden and caregiver satisfaction in partners of persons with a severe physical disability (spinal cord injury).

Design: Cross-sectional, observational.

Setting: Community setting.

Longitudinal study of social participation and well-being among persons with spinal cord injury and their partners (pro-WELL).

Purpose: Social participation is an important determinant of well-being. Among persons with disabilities, and with spinal cord injury (SCI) in particular, opportunities for social participation are restricted and may impact well-being. The longitudinal pro-WELL study aims to investigate associations of 2 major domains of social participation with well-being: (1) availability and quality of close social relationships and (2) acting in core social roles (eg, paid work).

Vitality and mental health in disability: Associations with social relationships in persons with spinal cord injury and their partners.

Background: Various social relationship constructs have been proposed to affect mental health. However, these constructs have rarely been studied in a comprehensive way in persons with chronic disabilities and their partners, inhibiting researchers from evaluating their relative importance.

Objective: To investigate 1) the variation in the quantity and quality of social relationships in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and their partners; 2) dyadic coherence within social relationship constructs; 3) the interrelationships between social relationship constructs; and 4) the associations of social relationship constructs with vitality and mental health.