engleski

Subjective quality of life and self assessed social support among Croatian Immigrants in Australia: A comparison with non-migrant Croatians and Australians

This research aimed to examine the differences in, and relationships between, perceived social support and subjective quality of life among Croatian immigrants in comparison with the general Australian and general Croatian population. A further aim was to determine the major sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction for each group. The 601 participants comprised Croatian immigrants in Australia (N=183), Australian general population (N= 232), and Croatian general population (N= 186). Subjective quality of life was measured using the Comprehensive Quality of Life Scale. The results showed that both Croatian immigrants and Croatians report similar overall life satisfaction as Australian population. Further analysis at the domain level revealed statistically significant differences in satisfaction on the domains of Material wellbeing and Emotional wellbeing. Croatians are least satisfied with their Material wellbeing and Australians reported a higher satisfaction with this domain. Australians reported their highest satisfaction with Emotional well being, while Croatian immigrants reported significantly lower scores. There was no significant difference in satisfaction between those three groups on the domains of Health, Productivity, Relationship, Safety, or Community. The importance of each domain was also examined. Interestingly, Croatian people (either immigrants or people in Croatia) report the same, high, level of importance, and for both groups it was significantly higher than for Australians. It seems everything examined is so important for them. At the domain level, the Achievement domain was significantly more important for Croatian people than for Australians. In terms of social support, immigrants expressed high level of perceived social support, which reflects their high cohesion within their local community. These findings further our understanding about the factors which impact upon subjective quality of life, particularly for those who experience significant changes in life circumstances as, through immigration.

subjective quality of life; well being

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