Factor Structure of Quality of Life in Adolescents

Abstract

The goal was to present the factor structure of subjective quality of life in adolescents, investigated by means of four questionnaires: the Youth Quality of Life-Research Version (YQOL–R), the Quality of Life Profile–Adolescent Version (QOLP–AV), the KIDSCREEN-52 Questionnaire, and the Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (QLQ–CA). Two exploratory factor analyses conducted on the results obtained from two samples of adolescents: healthy, N=252 (144 girls, 108 boys), and chronically ill, suffering from several illnesses, N=189 (118 girls, 71 boys). Both factor analyses revealed four-factor solutions, each explaining about 60% of the total variance. The factor structure for the healthy group approximately reproduced the structures of the four questionnaires: Developmental quality of life (23%), Health and Well-being (16%), Relational quality of life (14%), and Ego strength (8%). The factor structure for the chronically ill group was similar for three factors: Developmental quality of life (22%), Harmony between the self and the environment (14%), and Coping and Support (12%), but different for another one: Health-related quality of life (10%). The discussion focuses on the specific nature of four aspects of quality of life observed in the healthy sample and their similarities to and differences from the factors in the chronic patients' sample.