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Life events and life quality variability
Author(s) -
Zautra Alex,
Maio Joseph
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(198104)9:2<148::aid-jcop2290090207>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - quality of life (healthcare) , psychology , variance (accounting) , scale (ratio) , analysis of variance , demography , gerontology , clinical psychology , medicine , geography , cartography , accounting , sociology , business , psychotherapist
This study used survey data from three Arizona communities in an attempt to test whether residents experiencing life crises would display less differentiation in ratings of quality of life. Reduced variance in life quality ratings was thought to identify life space constriction, which might function as a defense mechanism in times of high life stress. A Life Quality Variability (LQV) score was obtained for each resident, based on the variance in subjective ratings of items from a life quality scale. This score was analyzed in conjunction with measures of stressful life events. The results were contrary to expectations; life events were positively correlated with the LQV score. Additionally, it was noted that negative life events were more potent predictors than positive events of ratings of life quality.