Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The 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
Y1 - 2012
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 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.
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 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.
KW - disability
KW - well-being
KW - quality of life
KW - adversity
KW - resources
U2 - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00810.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00810.x
M3 - Journal article
VL - 36
SP - 176
EP - 182
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
SN - 1753-6405
IS - 2
ER -