The Wellbeing of Working-Age Adults with and without Disability in the UK : Associations with Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Partnership Status, Educational Attainment and Employment Status

Emerson, Eric and Fortune, N and Aitken, N and Hatton, Chris and Stancliffe, Roger J. and Llewellyn, Gwynnyth (2020) The Wellbeing of Working-Age Adults with and without Disability in the UK : Associations with Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Partnership Status, Educational Attainment and Employment Status. Disability and Health Journal, 13 (2): 100889. ISSN 1936-6574

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Abstract

Background Few population-based studies have examined the association between disability and personal wellbeing (PWB) among working-age adults. Objective/Hypothesis: To determine: (1) the magnitude of differences in wellbeing between working-age adults with and without disability in contemporary samples representative of the UK population; and (2) whether the size of any observed differences between people with and without disability is moderated by age, gender, ethnicity, partnership status, educational attainment or employment status. Methods Secondary analysis of data from three national cross-sectional surveys. Results In each survey, people with disability scored lower than people without disability on all four indicators of PWB. Adjusting for the main effects of potentially moderating variables reduced the effect size of disability on PWB by an average of 24%. Subsequently adjusting for the two-way interaction terms between disability and potentially moderating variables reduced the effect size of disability (main effect) on PWB by an additional average of 73%. PWB among people with disability was significantly lower for: (1) men; (2) younger people; (3) those who belong to the majority ethnic group (white British); (4) those without a partner; and (5) people with lower socio-economic position. Conclusions Our findings indicate that demographic characteristics and exposure to specific social determinants of poor health play a major role in the negative association between disability and personal wellbeing. A more sophisticated understanding of how social determinants interact to produce inequities associated with identities such as disability, gender, race, sexuality, and class (intersectionality) can inform effective policy interventions.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Disability and Health Journal
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Disabilty and Health Journal. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Disability and Health Journal, 13, 3, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.100889
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2739
Subjects:
?? public health, environmental and occupational healthgeneral medicinemedicine(all) ??
ID Code:
140898
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
29 Jan 2020 10:30
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
24 Sep 2024 12:11