Disability-Based Disparities in Adolescent Subjective Well-Being

Hedonic subjective well-being (SWB) is now widely regarded as an important indicator of social progress and a goal of public policy. Research on SWB or 'the science of happiness' in high-income countries has proliferated, including studies examining the correlates, effects, and determinants of adolescent SWB. However, there is a paucity of data on the SWB of adolescents with disability. The available data suggest that adolescents with disability in high-income countries face a heightened risk of poor SWB relative to non-disabled peers. Few studies have investigated potential causes of disability-based differences in adolescent SWB. This absence of research may be due, in part, to the widely held but now contested assumption that disability is inherently negative and thus a direct cause of poor SWB. This book explores the notion that disability-based differences in adolescent SWB can be largely explained by differential exposure to adverse life conditions rather than the presence of disability per se. On this basis, disability-based differences in SWB may be socially determined and potentially preventable, and might therefore be more aptly described as disability-based disparities.

Autorentext

Amber Savage est ergothérapeute agréée et titulaire d'un doctorat en sciences de la réadaptation. Elle est actuellement responsable de la recherche au sein de l'Initiative d'études sur la famille et le handicap, à la Faculté de médecine de réadaptation de l'Université de l'Alberta, au Canada.