Experiential Aspects of Participation in Employment and Mobility for Adults With Physical Disabilities: Testing Cross-Sectional Models of Contextual Influences and Well-Being Outcomes

Objective: To use structural equation modeling to test research- and theory-informed models of potential predictors and outcomes of subjective experiences of employment and mobility participation in a national sample of people with physical disabilities. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Canada. Participants: English or French-speaking adults with a physical impairment affecting mobility and restricting activities or participation, and who participated in employment (n=457) or mobility (n=711) life domains. Interventions: N/A. Main Outcome Measures: Participants completed standardized measures of perceived health, and employment-specific and/or mobility-specific measures of perceived abilities, social support, accessibility and policies (predictor variables); the Measure of Experiential Aspects of Participation (MeEAP) in employment and/or mobility; and standardized measures of emotional well-being, social well-being and life satisfaction (outcome variables). Results: Analyses using structural equation modeling showed that in both employment and mobility domains, perceived health, abilities, social support, and accessibility were positively related to experiential aspects of participation. Participation experiences were positively related to social well-being, emotional well-being, and life satisfaction.