Lower well‐being of young Australian adults with self‐reported disability reflects their poorer living conditions rather than health issues

• Published in: Australian and New Zealand journal of public health Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 176 - 182
• Main Authors: Emerson, Eric, Llewellyn, Gwynnyth, Honey, Anne, Kariuki, Maina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Elsevier B.V 01.04.2012; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Access; Adolescent; Adult; Adults; adversity; Australia; Chronic illnesses; Disability; Disabled Persons - psychology; Epidemiology; Exposure; Female; Health disparities; Health promotion; Health Status; Health surveys; Humans; Intellectual disabilities; Living conditions; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental disorders; Mental health; Psychiatry; Psychological factors; Public health; Quality of life; Resources; Secondary analysis; Self Concept; Self Report; Social factors; Social Support; Socioeconomic Factors; Spinal cord; Stress, Psychological - etiology; well-being; Young Adult; Young adults; Australia; England; San Francisco California; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia; PSE, New Zealand; PSE, Australia; resources; adversity; well‐being; quality of life; disability
• ISSN: 1326-0200; 1753-6405
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-6405.2011.00810.x

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.