Are persons with physical disabilities who participate in society healthier and happier? Structural equation modelling of objective participation and subjective well-being |
| |
Authors: | Cretien van Campen Jurjen Iedema |
| |
Institution: | (1) Social and Cultural Planning Office, P.O. Box 16164, The Hague, 2500 BD, The Netherlands |
| |
Abstract: | In many countries, governments pursue a policy of offering persons with disabilities greater opportunities for participation
in society, based on the assumption that this will also improve their subjective well-being. Currently, however, it is not
known whether this assumption is valid. In this study we relate the objective participation and the subjective well-being
aspects of both disabled and non-disabled persons to an array of social and health-related determinants. Linear structural
equation modelling of data of a sample selection of the Dutch population is analysed. The sample size is 5,826, including
642 respondents with physical disabilities. In terms of objective participation, the persons with disabilities are at a greater
disadvantage as regards labour participation than is the case for social and cultural participation. When it comes to subjective
well-being, we find that the persons with disabilities are more likely to lag behind in perceived physical health than in
mental health and happiness. In a multivariate model relating objective participation to subjective health and happiness,
correlations are much weaker than expected. It is striking to find that participation, perceived health and happiness are
much less closely related than is often assumed. Their determinants differ widely in nature and strength. The empirical model
leads to rejection of the hypothesis that higher participation by the persons with disabilities is associated with higher
subjective well-being. |
| |
Keywords: | Quality of life Social participation Perceived health Happiness Persons with disabilities Structural models |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|