Análisis de modelos de liderazgo directivo en educación

Bortner and Hultsch (1970) investigated a number of objective and subjective factors in relation to overall life satisfaction in 1,406 respondents (mean age 45.6 years) in the United States. Life satisfaction was assessed using the Cantril ladder (Cantril, 1965). In this self-anchoring method, subjects are asked to describe the worst possible and best possible life for them. These descriptions are used as the end-points of an 11-point ladder and subjects are asked to rate their current life situation along the ladder. A multiple regression analysis was employed to determine the predictive ability of the independent variables. The findings suggest that socio-psychological variables were more important determinants of life satisfaction that demographic data. Thus, the five variables which were most predictive of life satisfaction were: success in achieving goals/aims in life, having the opportunity to do what you want to do, present life situation, presence/absence of troubles and obstacles and feelings of self-respect. In contrast, demographic data such as age, sex, economic level, race, education, occupation and marital status showed low correlations to overall life satisfaction. The authors also noted that a combination of variables were more predictive of life satisfaction than any one single item, thus highlighting the multifactorial nature of QOL.

Palmore and Luikart (1972) investigated the relative importance of a number of variables assessing health, activity, social-psychological aspects and economic status

(see Table 1.6 for full details) to life satisfaction in middle-aged and elderly Americans. 502 healthy adults aged 45 to 69 years participated in the study. The Cantril ladder was used to assess life satisfaction. Factors which correlated significantly with feelings of life satisfaction were: self- rated health, organisational activity (number of religious services and meetings of other groups such as clubs, unions and associations attended), feelings of internal control, performance status (a rating of health made by a physician) and productive hours (number of hours spent working or doing household duties, voluntary work, gardening, repairs etc) . This study suggests that four life domains are pertinent to QOL: physical status (self-rated health, performance status), social functioning (organisational activity), emotional status

(feelings of internal control) and economic/employment status (income, productive hou r s ) . The influence of demographic variables on QOL is discussed in detail in a later section, however, this study found demographic factors, with the exception of income, to be weak predictors of life satisfaction.

Edwards and Klemmack (1973) looked at a variety of factors influencing life satisfaction, as measured by 10 items of the Life Satisfaction Index (Adams, 1969). 22 variables covering socioeconomic state, personal/social background, formal social participation, informal interaction with family, informal non-familial participation and health status were assessed (see Table 1.7). 507 American adults aged over 45 years of age were included in the study. No details of upper age limit or the mean age of the group is given. Results of multiple regression analysis indicated three factors which are important in predicting life satisfaction: socioeconomic status, perceived health and informal participation with non­ family members. This highlights the importance of physical, economic and social domains to QOL. It is of interest that perceived health was more predictive than the objective measures of health. The specificity of the influence of the

Table 1.6: Variables investigated by Palmore and Luikart (1972) as predictors of life satisfaction

DOMAIN VARIABLE Health Activity Social- psychological Socio-economic Self-rated health Performance status (rating by physician) Organisational activity Social activity hours Productive hours Social contacts Employment Internal control Career anchorage Having a confidante Marital status Sexual enjoyment Moves Intelligence Income Education Age Sex

Table 1.7: Variables investigated by Edwards and Klemmack (1973) as predictors of life satisfaction

DOMAIN VARIABLE Socio-economic status Education Income Occupational status

Background data Age

Sex

Marital status Family size Time in area Community size

Retired (head of household) Formal participation Voting -'

Voluntary associations Church-related activities Informal family

participation

Visits to/from relatives Visits to/from relatives Informal non-family

participation

Visits to/from neighbours Frequency of phone calls Number of neighbours Number of friends

Health Perceived health

Number of ailments in last month Number of ailments in last year

social variables studied (predictive value for informal non- familial participation, but not for family interactions) highlights the individual nature of QOL and suggests that, in this population at least, it is not social activity per se which is important, but the specific nature of the social activity. The type of social activity which is important to overall life satisfaction may vary as a result of individual differences such as age or personality. The role of social support as a mediator is discussed further in a later section.

Many studies have investigated several aspects of life which may be important to QOL, while others have concentrated on one specific feature. An example of a more limited approach can be seen in the study by Hughey and Bardo (1987) who looked at the relationship between satisfaction with community and overall QOL. The rationale behind the study was that the community is where most of life is experienced and where most people engage in their day to day activities. A relationship between satisfaction with the community and overall QOL would, therefore, be expected. 250 randomly selected residents of Knoxville, Tennessee took part in the study. Satisfaction with community was assessed with the Community Satisfaction Scale (Bardo and Hughey, 1984). This 54-item scale was reduced through factor analysis to provide scores on 3 factors: 1) alienation from generalised others, 2) belongingness and quality of community life, 3) care for community by others and institutions (local government etc). Perceived overall QOL was assessed using the Cantril ladder

(Cantril, 1965). Subjects were asked to rate their lives as they were 5 years ago, as they are at present and how they expect to be in 5 years time. The ratings for these three assessments were combined to provide an overall QOL score. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the best predictors of overall QOL were feelings of belonging to the community and care for community by others. Overall, satisfaction with community accounted for 10% of the variance in QOL scores, suggesting that while aspects of the community are important to QOL, other factors also have a role to play. This study suggests that subjective appraisal of community is important to QOL. It does not, however, allow a comparison of

subjective and objective (for example, housing, state of roads, education) measures of community life in relation to their influence on feelings of QOL.

1 . 2 . C . Ü Investigative studies of factors important to QOL The above studies have investigated correlations between selected variables and ratings of life satisfaction. A different approach to determining what aspects of functioning are considered important to QOL is seen in a study by Berg et al. (1976) in the United States. This study asked 150 health workers to rate 50 items of individual function on a scale ranging from 1 to 10 in terms of their value to the quality and meaningfulness of life. The ten most important areas of functioning were: 1) to be able to use mental abilities, 2) to be able to love and be loved, 3) to be able to think clearly and be clear of confusion, 4) to be able to see, 5) to be able to use your hands, 6) to be able to have friends, 7) to be able to make decisions for yourself, 8) to be able to live at home, 9) to be able to maintain contact with family and friends, 10) to be able to talk. An open-ended question elicited some interesting suggestions including: to be able to do things on the spur of the moment, to be able to blend in with the crowd, to be able to feel all emotions, to be able to maintain self-esteem, to be able to travel, to be able to participate in sports and to be independent, tven with assistance. In summary, this study highlights the importance of cognitive, emotional and social functioning to QOL. The authors conclude that QOL studies need to focus on the perceptions of the individual, determining what their particular concerns are and how they relate to feelings of well-being.

Krupinski (1980) conducted a study in Melbourne, Australia in which respondents were asked to rate how

important different aspects of life were to them and to complete a diary indicating how they had spent their time over a one week period (both in terms of type of activity and time spent on that activity). In addition, levels of physical function and psychiatric state were determined. The sample consisted of 3,150 respondents. The aspects of life included

in the importance ratings were: 1) life in general, incorporating family life, being free from worries, material security, personal relations, being in useful employment, recreation and beliefs and ideas, 2) work, assessed by feelings of independence/dependence in the work situation, conditions of employment and freedom from pressure, 3) housing, in particular having a house with a garden, having a flat better than neighbours. A number of school children were also included in the study, who completed questions concerning school instead of those relating to work. The specific questions about school were: educational setting, peer activities, closeness to home and rules. Analysis of the importance ratings indicated that, in adults, social (family, personal relations), emotional (freedom from worries) and economic (material security, having house with garden, work in general, being usefully employed) considerations were rated to be the most important aspects of life satisfaction. In school children a similar pattern of results was seen with school replacing work as being important to life satisfaction.

Jenkins et al. (1990) proposed a conceptual model of QOL, defined appropriate endpoints based on available questionnaires and using factor analysis compared the factors derived from the data to those proposed. A good fit was seen in over 500 post-operative heart surgery patients. Five factors were identified by factor analysis as being of importance to QOL: low morale, symptoms of the illness, neuropsychological function, interpersonal relationships and economic/employment situation.