Life Satisfaction between Chinese-Immigrant Adolescents and Their Counterparts in the United States and China

Jessica J. Lee^1*, Carole Kimberlin²

¹Eastside High School, Gainesville, USA.
²College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/jss.2015.34014                

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the life satisfaction (LS) of Chinese-immigrant children in the United States (US) with their counterparts in America and China by using the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS). The mean scores of SLSS were examined and compared among three groups. Multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to identify the differences of LS among comparison groups after adjusting for other potential risk factors. Out of 161 children who completed the surveys, 47 (29%) were Chinese-immigrant children, 81 (50%) were native Chinese children, and 33 (20%) were non-immigrant US children. The results showed that Chinese- immigrant children had higher overall LS than native Chinese children (4.39 ± 0.83 vs 3.79 ± 0.81; p = 0.0001), but lower overall LS than non-immigrant children in the US (4.39 ± 0.83 vs 4.81 ± 0.69; p = 0.0207). Systematic investigation on larger populations will be necessary to identify the potential contributing factors.

Keywords

Life Satisfaction, Chinese-Immigrant Children, SLSS, Cross-Cultural

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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