Comparative study of perception of quality of life in adolescent students of Higher Secondary Education with and without disabilities

Abstract

This paper seeks to answer the question: What factors allow teenagers with and without disabilities to cope with adversities coming from their environment. The case of adolescents from three Higher Secondary Education centers (one from the National College of Technical Professional Education, Conalep 191, and two Care Centers for Students with Disabilities, CAED) in the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico, was studied. A non-representative sample of 64 students was selected, to whom the instrument Assessment of the quality of life in adolescent students (Gómez-Vela and Verdugo Alonso, 2009) was applied. For the analysis of the results of the field work, the SPSS statistical program was used. As results, it was found that the levels of satisfaction with life observed at the national level in Mexico are reflected in the high perception of quality of life of the sample selected for the case study. This perception is not positively linked to belonging to a medium economic status, nor negatively linked to disability status. People who occupy subordinate positions in the social field, who experience the condition of disability and who have a limited overall volume of capital may also have a high perception of quality of life, which allows them to relate and survive in adverse conditions, but it does not give them the competence to fight to move to more prestigious social spaces.