Couple Support Schemata in Couples With and Without Spinal Cord Injury

This article describes the cognitive schemata of couples’ support relationships among 65 couples in which the husband had a long-term spinal cord injury and 65 couples without disability. The structure of the support relations schemata were examined by means of smallest-space analysis. Similarities between men and women in couples with and without disability reflect common themes in schemata of interpersonal support in couples, whereas disparities between the groups reflect differences in the life circumstances of the men with disability and their wives. It appears that in couples who are living with disability, the support needs contribute to the shaping of the cognitive representation of support in accordance with the situation.