The lower well-being of young Australian adults with self-reported disability reflects their poorer living conditions rather than health issues

Emerson, Eric and Llewellyn, Gwynnyth and Honey, Anne and Kariuki, Maina (2012) The lower well-being of young Australian adults with self-reported disability reflects their poorer living conditions rather than health issues. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 36 (2). pp. 176-182. ISSN 1753-6405

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

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 well-being. 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 between-group differences in psychological well-being 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 well-being in this group.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2700/2739
Subjects:
?? disabilitywell-beingquality of lifeadversityresourcespublic health, environmental and occupational health ??
ID Code:
49115
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
22 Jul 2011 10:11
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
28 Nov 2023 11:13