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

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. 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 interventionsaimed at improving the well-being of young adults with a disability need to address the predominantly social determinants of wellbeing in this group.

Three-year trajectories of global perceived quality of life for youth with chronic health conditions

“…Researchers suggest that lower life satisfaction among some youth with chronic conditions may not be an intrinsic function of their disease, but rather that exposure to adversity and lack of resources may account for this poorer perspective on life [28, 63]. Cummins put forth and demonstrated a theory of homeostasis that posits humans have a ‘set-point’ with respect to subjective well-being, with set-points normally ranging from 70 to 90, with a mean score of 80 on a standard 0–100 point range [64, 65].…”

“…Over an 18-month follow-up, findings showed both depressive symptoms and loneliness were negatively related, and paternal support positively related, to QOL changes [27]. Emerson et al [28] used the same Australian survey and sample as described above, this time employing concurrent and historical data for three previous waves and using propensity score matching to determine whether prior exposure to adversity and access to resources were related to self-reported disability and subjective well-being. Previous disability was associated with lower subjective well-being.…”

Employment status and mental health among persons with and without a disability: evidence from an Australian cohort study

“…The fact that the economically inactive category for those persons with a disability was associated with the largest reduction in mental health may reflect their exit from work as a consequence of a pre-existing disabling health condition 7 32 33. It is also worth considering that people who reported themselves as economically inactive may have actually been ‘frustrated job seekers’ who had given up looking for work (as, in Australia, the definition of unemployment is based on looking for work within a 4-week period) 34…”

“…Compared with the general population, those with disabilities are less likely to participate in the workforce and face a range of other economic and social disadvantages such as low income and poor education 3–5. People with disabilities are likely to have much poorer health than people without disabilities6 and there is some evidence from longitudinal studies in Australia and the UK that disadvantaged circumstances are major contributors to the poorer health status among those with disabilities 5 7…”

Intersections between disability, type of impairment, gender and socio-economic disadvantage in a nationally representative sample of 33,101 working-aged Australians

“…4,5 While few studies have assessed the relative contribution of disadvantage to the poorer health of people with disabilities, research among young Australians suggests that it is likely to be substantive. 6 International agencies including the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank and the United Nations have identified the need to improve educational, economic, social, and health outcomes for people with disabilities through policy reform and service development. 2,7 Similar recommendations have been made in the Australian National Disability Strategy.…”