Health-related quality of life in children and adolescents: subjective well being

Span J Psychol. 2012 Mar;15(1):177-86. doi: 10.5209/rev_sjop.2012.v15.n1.37306.

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to build a model, which includes personal and social factors, that helps to highlight factors that promote health-related quality of Life (HRQoL) in children and in adolescents. A sample of 3195 children and adolescents was acquired from 5th and 7th graders from all five Portuguese regions. In this study three independent latent variables were specified--Physical, Psychological and Social and two dependent latent variables were measured: Health behavior and Quality of Life. The integrative model was composed by different components: (1) health-related quality of life, integrated by 8 dimensions from KIDSCREEN-52; (2) health behavior, (3) variables related to physical health; (4) variables related to social health; (5) variables related to psychological health. As results were found strong correlation between psychological dimensions and self-esteem and other factors and a structural equation model was developed. The model presented a RMSEA index of .08. Similarly, adjustment levels for the CFI, NFI and IFI vary above or around .90, which suggests a good adjustment for the hypothesized model. The model presented significant qui-square. This study showed that in all the samples studied, the psychological variables were those that contributed at a superior level to HRQoL.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Affect
  • Child
  • Child Welfare*
  • Female
  • Health Behavior*
  • Health Surveys
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mental Health
  • Models, Psychological
  • Portugal
  • Quality of Life / psychology*
  • Self Care / psychology
  • Self Concept
  • Social Adjustment
  • Social Support
  • Surveys and Questionnaires