Heal L W, Khoju M, Rusch F R, Harnisch D L
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA.
Am J Ment Retard. 1999 Jul;104(4):305-19. doi: 10.1352/0895-8017(1999)104<0305:PQOLOS>2.0.CO;2.
A subsample (N = 505) was selected from a nationwide, stratified, probability sample of students with disabilities attending high school in 1985. In-school and out-of-school information about these students was obtained in 1987 and 1990 from school records, school personnel, and parents. Conventional item analysis procedures were used to construct a priori quality-of-life composites (social relationships, employment, and independence) from 17 questionnaire variables. These composites were related to 27 geopolitical, family, demographic, cognitive, disability, and school program variables using three multiple regression analyses, which indicated that the predictors accounted for 23.5% of the variance in social relationships; 25.6%, in independence; and 19.5%, in employment. Results suggest that although quality of life is multidimensional, competence appears to underlie many of its facets.
