Premium
Determinants of the Quality of Life of Rural Families
Author(s) -
Garrison M.E. Betsy
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.439
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1748-0361
pISSN - 0890-765X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-0361.1998.tb00616.x
Subject(s) - quality (philosophy) , medicine , family medicine , psychology , gerontology , environmental health , epistemology , philosophy
Drawing from human ecology theory, the purpose of this study was to examine socioeconomic‐demographic determinants of the quality of life of rural families. In the study, computer‐aided telephone interviewing via random digit dialing procedures were used to collect data in the spring of 1996. The participants included 510 rural (both farm and nonfarm) respondents. Quality of life was measured by five subscales: finances; home, family, and friends; household; community; and environment. The results of the regression analyses indicated that the independent variables—gender, race, marital status, employment status, residence, age, family income, and household size, differentially affected the quality of life sub‐scales. Among the independent variables, household size—not a commonly used determinant in quality of life studies—was the most important predictor of subjective Well‐being. The findings of this study lend support for the dimensional, rather than global, measurement of subjective well‐being.