Attachment and Employment Outcomes for People With Spinal Cord Injury: The Intermediary Role of Hope | Knowledge Translation for Employment Research Center

Authors:	Blonk, R. W., Brenninkmeijer, V., Lagerveld, S. E., & Houtman, I. L.
Year Published	2017
Publication	Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin
Volume	60
Number	2
Pages	77-87
Publisher	SAGE
Background	Compared to people without disabilities, people with spinal cord injury (SCI) have significantly lower employment rates. There are approximately 270,000 people in the United States living with a SCI. Recently, industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology has focused on adopting positive psychological approaches to work related behaviors. Positive organizational behavior (POB) and I/O psychology findings indicate that attachment and hope are related to important vocational variables.
Purpose	This study explores the relevance of attachment and hope for vocational rehabilitation (VR), in relation to full time employment, for individuals with SCI. More specifically, this study aims to a) examine the relationship between attachment, hope, and full-time employment for individuals with SCI, and b) to examine the mediation effect of hope on the relationships between attachment and full-time employment for individuals with SCI.
Setting	Participants were recruited from SCI advocacy organizations, specifically through newsletters. Data were collected via an anonymous online survey.
Sample	Participants (N =84) ranged from 21 to 64 years of age (M= 47.05,SD= 10.72). There were 57 males, and 26 females in the sample, with one participant not responding to the gender question. Participants were predominantly Caucasian (88.1%), with 48 participants reporting being unemployed (57.2%) and 23 participants reporting full-time employment (27.4%). A large majority of participants (85.5%) reported completing some post-secondary education.
Data Collection	Employment was coded as binary, employed full time or not employed full-time. The Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ, Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994) was used to measure attachment. The Trait Hope Scale (THS; Snyder et al., 1991) was developed as a 12-item instrument to score total hope, pathways thoughts, and agency thoughts.
Control	There was no control group.
Findings	Results indicate that attachment and hope were significantly related and predictive of full-time employment. Hope was also a significant mediator between attachment and full-time employment.
Conclusions	Vocational rehabilitation counselors should strive to maintain and enhance positive time perspective for individuals with secure attachment. Individuals with low agency/low pathways experience increased barriers to the goal pursuit process and would benefit from increased direction.
URL	http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0034355215621036
Disabilities	Orthopedic impairments
Populations	Male & Female \| White / Caucasian
Outcomes	Full-time employment
NIDILRR Funded	Yes
Research Design	Observational
Peer Reviewed	Yes

Year Published

2017

Publication

Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin

Volume

60

Number

2

Pages

77-87

Publisher

SAGE

Background

Compared to people without disabilities, people with spinal cord injury (SCI) have significantly lower employment rates. There are approximately 270,000 people in the United States living with a SCI. Recently, industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology has focused on adopting positive psychological approaches to work related behaviors. Positive organizational behavior (POB) and I/O psychology findings indicate that attachment and hope are related to important vocational variables.

Purpose

This study explores the relevance of attachment and hope for vocational rehabilitation (VR), in relation to full time employment, for individuals with SCI. More specifically, this study aims to a) examine the relationship between attachment, hope, and full-time employment for individuals with SCI, and b) to examine the mediation effect of hope on the relationships between attachment and full-time employment for individuals with SCI.

Setting

Participants were recruited from SCI advocacy organizations, specifically through newsletters. Data were collected via an anonymous online survey.

Sample

Participants (N =84) ranged from 21 to 64 years of age (M= 47.05,SD= 10.72). There were 57 males, and 26 females in the sample, with one participant not responding to the gender question. Participants were predominantly Caucasian (88.1%), with 48 participants reporting being unemployed (57.2%) and 23 participants reporting full-time employment (27.4%). A large majority of participants (85.5%) reported completing some post-secondary education.

Data Collection

Employment was coded as binary, employed full time or not employed full-time. The Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ, Feeney, Noller, & Hanrahan, 1994) was used to measure attachment. The Trait Hope Scale (THS; Snyder et al., 1991) was developed as a 12-item instrument to score total hope, pathways thoughts, and agency thoughts.

Control

There was no control group.

Findings

Results indicate that attachment and hope were significantly related and predictive of full-time employment. Hope was also a significant mediator between attachment and full-time employment.

Conclusions

Vocational rehabilitation counselors should strive to maintain and enhance positive time perspective for individuals with secure attachment. Individuals with low agency/low pathways experience increased barriers to the goal pursuit process and would benefit from increased direction.

URL

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0034355215621036

Disabilities

Orthopedic impairments

Populations

Male & Female | White / Caucasian

Outcomes

Full-time employment

NIDILRR Funded

Yes

Research Design

Observational

Peer Reviewed

Yes