TY - JOUR
T1 - Lower well-being of young Australian adults with self-reported disability reflects their poorer living conditions rather than health issues
AU - Emerson, Eric
AU - Llewellyn, Gwynnyth
AU - Honey, Anne
AU - Kariuki, Maina
PY - 2012/4
Y1 - 2012/4
N2 - Objective: To determine the extent to which the lower well-being of young Australians with disabilities could be accounted for by increased rates of exposure to adversity and reduced access to personal, economic, social and community resources. Methods: Secondary analysis of data extracted from Waves 1 (2001) to 8 (2008) of the annual longitudinal survey of Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia. Results: Self-reported disability was associated with significantly lower scores on all indicators of psychological wellbeing. However, people self-reporting disability were more likely to be exposed to adversity and less likely to have access to a range of personal, economic, material, social and community resources. When these between-group differences in social context were controlled for, the betweengroup differences in psychological wellbeing were largely eliminated. Conclusion: Our results suggest that, among younger adults in Australia, the association between disability and lower psychological well-being largely reflects their increased risk of exposure to adversity and reduced access to resources, rather than the presence of health conditions or impairments per se. Implications: Public health interventions aimed at improving the well-being of young adults with a disability need to address the predominantly social determinants of wellbeing in this group.
AB - Objective: To determine the extent to which the lower well-being of young Australians with disabilities could be accounted for by increased rates of exposure to adversity and reduced access to personal, economic, social and community resources. Methods: Secondary analysis of data extracted from Waves 1 (2001) to 8 (2008) of the annual longitudinal survey of Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia. Results: Self-reported disability was associated with significantly lower scores on all indicators of psychological wellbeing. However, people self-reporting disability were more likely to be exposed to adversity and less likely to have access to a range of personal, economic, material, social and community resources. When these between-group differences in social context were controlled for, the betweengroup differences in psychological wellbeing were largely eliminated. Conclusion: Our results suggest that, among younger adults in Australia, the association between disability and lower psychological well-being largely reflects their increased risk of exposure to adversity and reduced access to resources, rather than the presence of health conditions or impairments per se. Implications: Public health interventions aimed at improving the well-being of young adults with a disability need to address the predominantly social determinants of wellbeing in this group.
KW - Adversity
KW - Disability
KW - Quality of life
KW - Resources
KW - Well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84861174608&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00810.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00810.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 22487354
AN - SCOPUS:84861174608
SN - 1753-6405
VL - 36
SP - 176
EP - 182
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
IS - 2
ER -