Sexual Adjustment Process of Individuals with Spinal cord Injury

척수 장애인의 성적 적응 경험

The purpose of this study is to identify and describe a process of sexual adjustment of individuals with spinal cord injury: and to describe and explore positive and negative influences on the adjustment process. This qualitative study was conducted with 10 Korean individuals with spinal cord injury who had been physically disabled for more than one year. Data were collected and analysed at a same time using grounded theory method. Major categories of this study showed a process how the individuals with spinal cord injury adjust to their individual life as sexual beings. The process included and individual responses to the behavioral efforts including and . Initially physical aspects of sexuality seemed to be affected by spinal cord injuries. The changed physical aspects then influenced other aspects of their sexual life. Life satisfaction of each individual as a sexual being revealed as very subjective. It could be defined according to how the individual approved their sexual life no matter what and how much behavioral effort the person had done. In this study 3 types of sexual adjustment aspects were explored: 'Active adjustment' 'Passive adjustment' 'Maladjustment'. There were negative and positive factors influencing the adjustment process of individuals with spinal cord injury. Those factors might come from themselves, from families, or from social situations. Findings of this study suggested that sexual life of individuals with spinal cord injury should not be understood as a physical or behavioral matter. It was a combination of physical, psychological and social aspects of life. Therefore, appropriate rehabilitation programs for the sexual adjustment of individuals with spinal cord injury need to concern heterogeneous life values of them and obtain individualized services for each individual at a different stage of the sexual adjustment process.