Examining the role of resilience and perceived health status on environmental quality of life: An oil community experience

Abstract

AbstractResearch evidence on how resilience and perceived health status contributes to environmental quality of life (EQoL) in oil‐producing communities is limited. The activities of oil exploration are more likely to have an environmental impact on residents’ habitation, resulting in a lack of access to quality air, to adverse noise levels, and to poor‐quality water in households. However, evidence abounds in the literature that resilience is an important factor in sustainable development, while EQoL is significantly related to health status. This study is an attempt to identify the predictive roles of resilience and perceived health status on self‐reported EQoL among residents in the Badagry oil‐producing community, Lagos State, South‐western Nigeria. To perform this study, descriptive survey design was used. The participants were 169 residents selected randomly from the Badagry oil‐producing community. Their ages ranged from 14 to 58 years (M = 34 years, SD = 12.42). The Environmental Quality of Life Scale, Resilience Scale, and the Perceived Health Status Scale were used to collect responses from respondents. The results revealed that there is significant prediction of resilience when considering EQoL (F1,167 = 6.85, P < 0.05, R2 = 0.04), while perceived health status is not significantly predicted when considering EQoL (F1,167 = 0.68, P > 0.05, R2 = 0.01). However, findings suggest that resilience and perceived health status jointly predict EQoL (F = 4.24, P < 0.05, R2 = 0.05). The study concludes that psychosocial attributes of resilience and perceived health status should be taken into consideration by policymakers when formulating policies that are inclusive of EQoL indicators in oil‐producing communities in Nigeria.