Conceptual principles of quality of life: an empirical exploration

[Structured summary]: Background: Quality of life is a popular measure of outcomes and its widespread use has led to recent calls for a better understanding of the construct, emphasising the need to build a substantial body of knowledge around what determines perceptions of life quality. Some conceptual principles are examined in this study. Method: Self-ratings of life quality and three likely determinants at an individual level (stress), an interactional level (social support) and a community level (neighbourhood belonging) were used. Two groups of young adults from an urban community participated, one identified as having an intellectual disability. Results: Young adults with intellectual disability rated their satisfaction with health significantly higher and intimacy and community involvement lower than the comparison group. Social support emerged as the strongest predictor of life satisfaction across both groups. Conclusion: The conceptual principles of subjective quality of life provide a useful framework to discuss findings and to stimulate further research

Determinants of subjective quality of life among rural adolescents: a developmental perspective

This study examines youths' experiences of loneliness and community connectedness in relation to seven domains of subjective quality of life among pre-adolescents, early adolescents, and middle adolescents. Participants consisted of 464 youth, ranging in age from 11 to 17 years, from two rural towns. Youth reported on their subjective experiences of loneliness and their perceptions of their community environments (neighbourhood and school). Hierarchical regressions indicated the importance of loneliness in accounting for subjective quality of life for early adolescents, and less so for middle and pre-adolescents. Community factors significantly accounted for additional variance in pre-adolescents' reports of their quality of life, compared with early and middle adolescents' reports. Discussion highlights the importance of understanding the determinants of quality of life from an individual, community, and developmental perspective

Sense of place amongst adolescents and adults in two rural Australian towns: the discriminating features of place attachment, sense of community and place dependence in relation to place identity

This study investigates whether dimensions of sense of place can discriminate those residents who identify with their rural town, and prefer to stay, from those who do not, and whether patterns of association between these dimensions differ between adolescent and adult residents. Participants were 246 adults and 365 adolescents in two remote rural towns in Australia. Place identity was determined from residents’ responses on a single item, ‘I would really rather live in a different town. This one is not the place for me.’ Three groups were classified: those agreeing, undecided and disagreeing with the statement. Discriminating variables were place attachment (emotional bonding and behavioural commitment), sense of community (affiliation and belonging) and place dependence (available activities, quality and quality comparison with alternative communities). A direct discriminant function analysis showed 76.4 per cent of adults were correctly classified from one discriminant function accounting for 92 per cent of the variance. Indicators of dependence, belonging, behavioural commitment and emotional bonding, loaded above 0.45. Sixty-two per cent of adolescents were correctly classified from one discriminant function accounting for 93.6 per cent of the variance. Indicators of dependence and belonging loaded 0.45 and above. Discussion considers distinguishing dimensions of sense of place and identifying associations amongst them as ways to explore the experience of community in everyday life

Female adoptees' perceptions of contact with their birth fathers: satisfactions and dissatisfactions with the process

Qualitative data were analyzed to identify factors associated with adoptees’ satisfactions or dissatisfactions in their contact experiences with their birthfathers. Participants were 17 women who had been adopted prior to two years of age and had subsequently met their birthfathers. All women completed a questionnaire and seven also took part in a semi-structured interview. Four main themes were identified that affected satisfaction with contact: birthfathers’ attributes and behavior, adoptees’ attributes (e.g., expectations), behavior of others (e.g., birthmother, birthfather’s family, and adoptive parents), and circumstances of the conception and relinquishment. The implications of these findings for members of the adoption triangle and those providing post-adoption services are discussed