Abstract: Objective To explore the adjustment and posttraumatic growth of people with spinal cord injury from the community. Methods From January 2013 to May 2015, Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to interview 12 participants with spinal cord injury from Sunshine Rehibilation Center. Interviews were recorded on audio-tape with participants' permission and then transcribed verbatim. The transcribed interviews were analyzed according to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results 3 superordinate themes emerged including struggling in despair, disentangling from the shadow of disability and continuing with life as normal, facing challenge and achieving positive growth. Conclusion It is necessary to explore the process of adjustment and posttraumatic growth of people with spinal cord injury, which contribute to understand their psychological experience, psychological feature, and coping strategies, promote their physical and psychological recovery, and provide theory and practice guidance for family and society re-integration.

Key words: spinal cord injury, adjustment, growth, qualitative study