Joaquina Palomar Lever

The Development of an Instrument to Measure Quality of Life in Mexico City

This study seeks to develop a valid and reliableinstrument to measure Quality of Life among theinhabitants of Mexico City. “Quality of Life” isconsidered to be a subjective, multi-dimensionalconstruct.In this study, information was gathered regarding howinhabitants of Mexico City defined Quality of Life. Based on an analysis of the content of theirresponses, Quality of Life items were selected for thesample. Then a Likert instrument was applied,containing the items obtained from the openinterview.Factorial analyses and tests for internal consistencywere applied in order to ascertain the factorialcomponents of Quality of Life. This allowedstatistically significant differences to be observedbetween Quality of Life factors and certainsocio-economic variables.

Poverty, stressful life events, and coping strategies

It was hypothesized that individuals of low socioeconomic status are exposed to a greater number of stressful events and therefore have a higher incidence of psychological disorders. However, the way they interpret, evaluate and cope with these stressful situations may either cause them to maintain, intensify or eliminate their overall stress. Past research indicates that the poorest individuals tend most frequently to falsely minimize or avoid stressful situations, which lowers the probability of resolving their problems. The objective of this study is to discover and compare the situations that have produced a high level of stress in subjects of three different socioeconomic groups over the last three months, as well as the strategies they used to cope, and their perceived effectiveness. The sample included 900 subjects of both sexes living in Mexico City. Among them, 346 were extremely poor, 260 were moderately poor and 312 were not poor. The results indicate that socioeconomic status is related to the frequency with which subjects report certain kinds of stressful situations. It was also found that non-poor subjects use problem-focused coping methods more than the other groups, while the poor use more emotionally-focused coping strategies. This article analyzes the strategies used by each group in each type of stressful situation reported.

Psychological and Social Determinants of Subjective Well-Being in Mexico: Poverty, Class Identification and Social Mobility

This chapter studies the determinants of subjective well-being with a particular focus on the situation in a context of poverty; the chapter also studies how subjective well-being relates to perceived causes of poverty, class identification, and social mobility. This reflection is based upon the assumption that subjective well-being influences people’s socio-economic situation as well as their perception about the causes of poverty. In addition, the relationship between objective living conditions and subjective well-being may be mediated by those factors which individuals perceive as causes of poverty and by the socioeconomic class they presume they belong to.