Abstract
BackgroundThe World Health Organization (WHO) incorporated well-being into its definition of health in 1948. The significance given to this concept is due to its role in the assessment of people’s quality of life and health.MethodsUsing the WHO Well-being Index, we estimated well-being among adults and identified selected associated factors in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) using data obtained from the National Time Use Survey conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) 2012–2013 on a representative sample of persons living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted among participants 18 years old and above. Multivariate analysis (Regression) was performed with factors found significant in cross-tabulations, using SPSS® version 20.ResultsOverall, 33.8 % (2395) of respondents reported low levels of well-being (ill-being). Neither age, nor sex, nor region were found significant in regression analysis. People who were married, working 15 h or more, with a higher standard of living, who reported participating in community, cultural, and social events, or in religious activities reported high levels of well-being. Those who reported regularly following the mass media, or living in Palestinian refugee camps reported low levels of wellbeing.ConclusionsOverall, about one-third of adult Palestinians reported low levels of well-being (ill-being), a finding which in itself requires attention. Marriage, employment, high living standards, community participation, and religious activities were found to be protective against ill-being. Further investigations are required to determine additional causes of ill-being in the oPt, taking into consideration the possible effects of chronic exposure to political violence on subjective well-being.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) incorporated well-being into its definition of health in 1948
This study aimed to assess the levels of well-being/ illbeing in Palestine using data from the National Time Use Survey collected by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2012–2013, and to identify factors associated with well-being/ill-being among adult Palestinians
Mean age was 37.27 (SD = 15.11). 38.4 % of respondents were young adults aged 18–29 years. 76.3 % were married. 40.8 % were working 15 h or more per week. 17.9 % had with a high standard of living. 8.4 % of respondents participated in community, social, and cultural events. 78.3 % of respondents attended or participated in religious activities or joined religious groups. 83.4 % of respondents regularly followed the mass media. 19.0 % were rural residents
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) incorporated well-being into its definition of health in 1948. In 1948, well-being was incorporated into the broad definition of health that encompassed “complete physical, mental, and social well-being” [2]. Subjective well-being consists of two main components: cognitive and affective [8]. The cognitive element is related to evaluation and judgment of people of their own lives including aspects such as work satisfaction, and life satisfaction; that is, chosen criteria assessing the quality of life of persons [3]. The affective dimension deals with moods, feelings, and emotions [9] The latter dimension entails two main elements: positive emotions like happiness, affection, joy, giving rise to pleasant feelings and a positive mood; and negative emotions like sadness, anger, stress, which are responsible for negative mood, and unpleasant feelings [6, 10]
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