Correlations of self-concept with quality of life and life habits in persons with visual impairment

Abstract

Self-concept, quality of life and life habits are d efined through domains connected with certain areas of everyday functionin g and with some social roles, so it could be that they interfere. This research has a goal to determine self-concept in visually impaired (VI) adults and adults from typical population and to check its correlations with quality of life and life habits. The sample included total of 175 respondents: VI pe rsons (N=92) of both gender, between age 19 to 65 and a control group of persons from typical population (N=83) equal with VI respondents by age and gender. For collecting data on the control variables, in ou r study we used a demographic questionnaire designed for this study. The above mentioned constructs were examined by following instruments: Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS:2, 2nd edition; Fitts & Warren, 2003), Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale (ComQOL-A5, 5th edition; Cummins, 1997) and The Assessment of Life Habits general short form (LIFE-H 3.1; Fougeyrollas & Noreau, 2003). Examining the self-concept, we noticed that respond ents with low vision have the highest scores. As for the quality of life, it is evident that blind people from our study have significantly poorer objective qu ality of life comparing the control group. A comparison of the achievements of VI people showed that respondents with low vision accomplish more life hab its than their blind counterparts. When we are talking about the relatio nship between self-concept, quality of life and life habits, correlation analys is showed the existence of low to moderate correlations between tested constructs. Regardless of the evidence that existence of VI can cause certain difficulties, it is not necessary that it causes pr oblems in the domains of quality of life, social participation or self-concept

Samopoimanje, kvalitet života i životne navike su de finisani preko domena povezanih sa određenim oblastima funkc ionisanja u svakodnevnom životu i nekim životnim ulogama, stoga je moguće da interferiraju. Ovo istraživanje ima za cilj utvrđivanje samopoimanja ko d odraslih sa oštećenjem vida (OV) i osoba iz opšte populacije i njegove povezanosti sa kvalitetom života i životnim navikam a. Uzorak je činilo 175 ispitanika: osobe sa OV(N=92) oba pola, stare od 19 do 65 godina (AS=35,10, SD=10,78) i osobe iz opšte populacije (N=83) kao kontrolna grupa ujednačena sa ispitanicim a sa OV prema uzrastu i polu. Za prikupljanje podataka o nezavisnim varijablama kor išćen je Demografski upitnik konstruisan za potrebe ovog ist raživanja. Pomenuti konstrukti ispitivani su sledećim skalama: Tenesi skala za procenu samopoimanja ( The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale – TSCS:2, 2nd edition; Fitts &Warren, 2003); Sveobuhvatna skala kvaliteta života ( Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale – ComQOL-A5, 5th edition; Cummins, 1997) i skraćen a forma Skale životnih navika( The Assessment of Life Habits general short form – LIFE-H 3.1; Fougeyrollas & Noreau, 2003). Ispitujući samopoimanje, uočili smo da najviše rezul tate imaju slabovidi ispitanici. Što se tiče kvaliteta života, primetno je da slepe osobe imaju značajno lošiji objektivni kvalit et života u poređenju sa osobama iz kontrolne grupe. Poređenje po stignuća osoba sa oštećenjem vida pokazalo je da slabovide osobe reali zuju više životnih navika u odnosu na slepe. Kada govorimo o odnosu sa mopoimanja, kvaliteta života i životnih navika, korelaciona anal iza je pokazala da između ispitivanih konstrukata postoje niske do ume rene značajne korelacije. Bez obzira na to što postoje dokazi da prisustvo OV može da izazove određene teškoće, nije neophodno da ono uzrokuje i probleme u kvalitetu života, socijalnoj participaciji ili u oblasti samopoi manja