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Study design:Systematic review.Objectives:To review the literature on relationships between psychological factors and quality of life (QOL) of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI).Setting:NA.Methods:A systematic literature search was conducted in several online databases (PubMed, Embase and PsychInfo). Articles were included if they provided quantitative information on associations between QOL-related dependent variables and psychological factors as independent variables in an SCI population. The search was limited to empirical studies published in English. The methodological quality of the included articles was assessed.Results:A total of 48 studies were included. Total locus of control, sense of coherence, self-worth, hope, purpose in life and positive affect were consistently associated with greater QOL. Negative affect and posttraumatic cognitions were consistently associated with lower QOL. Inconsistent evidence was found for subscales of locus of control, the role of attribution of blame, spirituality, personality, appraisals, passive coping and emotion-focused coping. No evidence was found for an association between active problem-focused coping styles and QOL.Conclusion:Many psychological factors were strongly and consistently related to QOL, but for some others no or inconsistent evidence was found. Further research should (1) use larger study groups, preferably in longitudinal designs, (2) improve terminological precision and avoid conceptual overlap between determinants and outcomes, (3) increase uniformity of questionnaires and (4) reexamine concepts that have been abandoned prematurely, such as personality and social comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe Ostracism Online, a novel, social media-based ostracism paradigm designed to (1) keep social interaction experimentally controlled, (2) provide researchers with the flexibility to manipulate the properties of the social situation to fit their research purposes, (3) be suitable for online data collection, (4) be convenient for studying subsequent within-group behavior, and (5) be ecologically valid. After collecting data online, we compared the Ostracism Online paradigm with the Cyberball paradigm (Williams & Jarvis Behavior Research Methods, 38, 174-180, 2006) on need-threat and mood questionnaire scores (van Beest & Williams Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, 918-928, 2006). We also examined whether ostracized targets of either paradigm would be more likely to conform to their group members than if they had been included. Using a Bayesian analysis of variance to examine the individual effects of the different paradigms and to compare these effects across paradigms, we found analogous effects on need-threat and mood. Perhaps because we examined conformity to the ostracizers (rather than neutral sources), neither paradigm showed effects of ostracism on conformity. We conclude that Ostracism Online is a cost-effective, easy to use, and ecologically valid research tool for studying the psychological and behavioral effects of ostracism.