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ABSTRACT
Quality of life (QOL) is of great concern for refugees who experience significant hardship and life changes. Leisure may support refugees’ QOL, however, a review of the literature reveals a gap in understanding the influence of leisure availability and participation on the QOL of adult refugees residing in Turkey. This study examined the influence of different dimensions of leisure (i.e. active, passive, and social) on the QOL of refugees (i.e. physical, psychological, social, and environmental) using the WHOQOL-BREF scale. Responses from 203 adult refugees residing in Turkey were analysed using structural equation modelling. Results showed that both leisure availability (β = .80, p < .001) and participation (β = .32, p < .001) strongly influenced QOL. Leisure availability also indirectly and positively influenced QOL through participation (β = .39, p < .001). The calculated R-squared (R2 = .45) showed that variation in leisure availability and participation explains a significant proportion of variation in QOL of refugees who participated in this study. It can be interpreted that improving refugees’ perceived and actual access to leisure and facilitating their leisure participation may substantially improve their QOL when coupled with other interventions.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Monir Shahzeidi
Monir Shahzeidi is a 2nd year Ph.D. student at the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She holds a Master of Arts in Sustainable Leisure Management from Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. Her research interest pertains to the study of leisure, particularly in exploring the influence of leisure on the quality of life of refugees. Her doctoral research proposes to employ a postcolonial feminist lens with the over-arching objective of exploring the leisure experiences of racialized women refugees resettled in Canada, particularly emphasizing how these experiences exist at the crossroads of multiple identity categories (e.g., race, gender, class, and so on).
Garrett Stone
Dr. Garrett A. Stone is an Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism at the University of Utah, and Director of Research and Evaluation at Thanksgiving Point Institute. His research focuses on understanding and evaluating guest experience in free choice learning and edutainment environments, as well as the transformative potential of parks, recreation and tourism experiences and services.
Bijen Filiz
Dr. Bijen Filiz is an Assoc. Prof. in the Department of Coaching Education at Afyon Kocatepe University. Her educational and research interest lies in themes related to instructional, curriculum, and hidden programs in physical education, physical education teacher education and sports education, measurement and evaluation in physical education, physical activity and academic achievement, and sports sociology. Dr. Filiz is a member of the Future Leader Volunteer/ Global Community Health, the World Leisure Organization, and the TPSR Alliance.