Predicting quality of life of students who have left special education high school programs

A subsample (N = 505) was selected from a nationwide, stratified, probabili ty sample of students with disabilities attending high school in 1985. In-s chool and out-of-school information about these students was obtained in 19 87 and 1990 from school records, school personnel, and parents. Conventiona l item analysis procedures were used to construct a priori quality-of-life composites (social relationships, employment, and independence) from 17 que stionnaire variables. These composites were related to 27 geopolitical, fam ily, demographic, cognitive, disability, and school program variables using three multiple regression analyses, which indicated that the predictors ac counted for 23.5% of the variance in social relationships; 25.6%, in indepe ndence; and 19.5%, in employment. Results suggest that although quality of life is multidimensional, competence appears to underlie many of its facets .