Quality of life dimensions for adults with developmental disabilities: a comparative study.

The quality of life construct has gained prominent attention in human services over the last 20 years. We investigated whether quality of life differences exist between adults with developmental disabilities and the general population. Differences were found in scales measuring well-being and decision-making as well as other more specific variables. The two groups also differed in overall quality of life; those with developmental disabilities had lower quality of life. A logistic regression model comprised of the life dimensions differentiated between the groups with over 90% accuracy. Overall results of this static group comparison indicate that adults with developmental disabilities are at a significant disadvantage with regard to quality of life in comparison with the general population.