Forty-two patients with spinal cord lesions were asked to fill out the Amsterdam Mood Questionairre (Amsterdamse Stemmings Lijst (ASL)) in order to ascertain whether this group of patients with reduced sensorimotor capacities would show a deviant pattern of moods. An overall reduction in mood state levels had to be expected for these patients on base of 1) various emotion theories, and 2) various theories about the psychological consequences of severe handicaps. The results of this study demonstrate that spinal cord lesions do not result in an overall reduction in mood state levels, and do therefore not support either of the two sets of theories. However the results clearly indicate that the level of success in coping with the lesion-induced handicap does effect mood state levels. Failure in coping is related with depression and an accentuation of negative moods, whereas succesful coping is related with lack of depression and an accentuation of positive moods.