A Comparison of Quality of Life Variables for Studentswith Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and StudentsWithout Disabilities

摘要

The importance of quality of life has been increasingly recognized in thefield of special education. To date, however, there are no studies focusing exclu-sively on students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). This studyexamined quality of life differences between students with EBD and their nondis-abled peers in four domains: (a) General quality of life; (b) Self; (c) Relationships;and (d) Environment. Additional analyses compared parent and adolescent ratings.Results indicated adolescents with EBD were significantly more dissatisfied withtheir quality of life in all domains than their non-EBD peers. No significant withingroup differences were found for gender or age; however, EBD students in self-contained schools rated self and environment significantly higher than their peerswith EBD in public schools. Parents of adolescent with EBD rated their adolescent'squality of life significantly lower than their adolescent did, while parents of non-EBD adolescents rated their adolescent's quality of life as significantly higher thandid their adolescents. This study has several implications for programming toimprove the outcomes among this group of students.