UC Merced

This study examined the relationship between compromised health status and quality of life (QL) in a general population sample of pre-adolescents. Survey data (n = 4,824) from a racially/ethnically balanced sample of African American, Hispanic, and White 5th graders were used to examine two different indicators of compromised health status, presence of a chronic health condition and variation in overall health status both based on parent report. QL was measured in the physical, emotional, and social domains with the PedsQL and other self-report forms. Both the presence of a chronic health condition and decrements in child’s overall health status were related to lowered QL in all domains. The findings suggest that parental assessment of child's overall physical health is related to child’s QL.