Stability of interests after severe physical disability: An 11-Year longitudinal study

The longitudinal stability of vocational interests of males with traumatic spinal cord injury was studied over 11 years. In this follow-up study, a sample of 117 males with spinal cord injury who had completed the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory 11 years earlier (Rohe & Athelstan, 1985) was recontacted, and of the 96 available subjects, 79 (82%) completed the Strong Interest Inventory (SII). Their average age at injury was 24.3 years. Their average ages at the time of the first and second inventory administrations were 32.8 and 43.8 years, respectively. The sample was from the Midwestern United States and was primarily Caucasian. Seventy-four percent of the sample had quadriplegia, and 26% had paraplegia. The initially completed Strong Campbell Interest Inventories were rescored using the 1985 SII norms, and the resulting SIIs were compared with the SIIs completed 11 years later on the General Occupational Themes, Basic Interests Scales, Occupational Scales, and Special Scales of the instrument. The results, which parallel and reinforce those reported in the original study, indicated that (a) the interests of males with spinal cord injury are as stable as those of similar-aged nondisabled samples, (b) anticipated age-related increases in scales associated with artistic and social interests and normative age-related decreases in scales associated with physically demanding and adventuresome activities did not occur, and (c) interests that reflect forceful interaction with the general public decreased.