The mediating effects of health on the relationship between discrimination experience and life satisfaction in people with disablities

To enhance the quality of life among people with disabilities who have been socially discriminated and negatively recognized, the present study investigated the relationship between life satisfaction and discrimination among people with disabilities and the mediating effect of health in the relationship. To verify this, 4,851 adults with disabilities age 20 and over were analyzed based on raw data from the 2014 National Survey on Persons with Disabilities(2014) using structure equation modeling. As a result, discrimination experience was found to have a negative impact on health and life satisfaction, while health was shown to have a positive impact on life satisfaction. Health was found to have a partial mediating effect on the relationship between discrimination experience and life satisfaction. In other words, discrimination experience indirectly affects life satisfaction through health condition. Based on these findings, measures to enhance the life satisfaction of the disabled were proposed.