Life under occupation: citizenship and other factors influencing the well-being of university students living in the West Bank

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic characteristics of respondents, West Bank 2014.

Characteristic	N	%
Age (mean = 20.1)	n = 385
18	36	9.3
19	86	22.3
20	128	33.2
21	83	21.6
22	35	9.1
23	9	2.3
24+	8	2.1
Citizenship	n = 397
Palestinian	228	57.4
Jordanian	26	6.5
Israeli	132	33.2
Palestinian refugee	11	2.8
City Type	n = 398
Urban	195	49.0
Rural	203	51.0
Sex	n = 394
Male	114	28.9
Female	280	71.0
Household	n = 398
1	2	0.5
2–4	52	13.1
5–7	214	53.8
8–10	112	28.1
11+	18	4.5
Religion	n = 396
Muslim	377	95.2
Christian	14	3.5
Jewish	2	0.5
Other	3	0.8
Household Income (in Jordanian Dinar)	n = 380
<6000 JD	155	40.9
6100–12,000 JD	113	29.7
12,100–18,000 JD	50	13.2
18,100–24,000 JD	33	8.7
>24,100 JD	29	7.6

Table 2. Means of outcome variables: overall and by citizenship and sex.

Indicator	Overall		Citizenship				Sex
	Mean	SD		Mean	p	SD		Mean	p	SD
SF-36^a
Physical Construct	72.2	17.0	Palestinian	71.6		72.2	Male	70.2		16.9
			Israeli	73.0		60.9	Female	73.0		17.0
Physical Functioning	77.4	24.5	Palestinian	77.5		77.4	Male	70.8		29.1
			Israeli	76.0		62.4	Female	79.9		22.1
Physical Role	68.2	34.7	Palestinian	67.7		68.2	Male	63.5		35.9
			Israeli	69.4		50.5	Female	70.1		34.0
Bodily Pain	77.2	20.7	Palestinian	76.7		77.2	Male	81.6	**	19.0
			Israeli	78.7		73.5	Female	75.4		21.1
General Health	63.2	15.6	Palestinian	62.1		63.2	Male	62.8		16.5
			Israeli	65.0		55.9	Female	63.4		15.2
Mental construct	56.1	20.3	Palestinian	54.8	*	56.1	Male	59.3		21.0
			Israeli	60.4		50.1	Female	54.9		19.8
Emotional role	50.2	41.7	Palestinian	45.7	***	50.2	Male	53.8		39.8
			Israeli	61.8		39.4	Female	48.4		42.3
Mental health	55.3	20.2	Palestinian	54.2		55.3	Male	57.1		20.5
			Israeli	58.0		49.9	Female	54.6		19.8
Social functioning	66.6	23.4	Palestinian	66.2		66.6	Male	68.6		25.2
			Israeli	69.6		60.0	Female	65.9		22.4
Vitality	53.6	18.5	Palestinian	52.6		53.6	Male	58.0	**	19.4
			Israeli	56.3		49.8	Female	51.91		17.7
Global SF-36	64.4	16.2	Palestinian	63.7		64.4	Male	65.0		16.8
			Israeli	66.6		55.8	Female	64.2		15.8
PSS-4
Stress	2.03	0.51	Palestinian	2.04		0.46	Male	1.86		0.60
			Israeli	1.95		0.60	Female	2.09		0.46
Insecurity
Insecurity	3.38	.92	Palestinian	3.28	**	0.92	Male	3.32		0.93
			Israeli	3.58		0.90	Female	3.41		0.91

Notes: p = probability of no difference between categories using t test (adjusted for multiple hypothesis testing). If blank, p > 0.05.

^a In each SF-36 construct, the scale is 1–100, with a score closer to 100 indicating better functioning, including for bodily pain, which will indicate less bodily pain.

* p ≤ 0.05;

** p ≤ 0.01;

*** p ≤ 0.001.

Table 3. Comparison of means for outcome variables by household size and income.

Characteristic	SF-36		PSS-4		Insecurity
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Household Size	64.42	16.17	2.03	0.51	3.38	0.92
1 (n = 2)	59.19	24.21	2.12	0.18	2.60	1.27
2–4 (n = 52)	65.55	16.67	1.88	0.63	3.42	0.88
5–7 (n = 207)	64.97	15.63	2.03	0.49	3.37	0.87
8–10 (n = 111)	63.79	17.19	2.07	0.51	3.45	1.02
11+ (n = 17)	59.24	14.15	2.26	0.34	3.07	0.91
	F = 0.576, p = 0.680		F = 2.160, p = 0.073		F = 1.044, p = 0.384
Income	64.36	16.00	2.03	0.52	3.38	0.91
<6000 JD (n = 152)	61.97	16.22	2.04	0.52	3.48	0.88
6100–12,000 JD (n = 110)	65.50	16.73	2.05	0.49	3.26	0.95
12,100–18,000 JD (n = 49)	68.25	12.55	1.92	0.49	3.15	0.88
18,100–24,000 JD (n = 32)	64.39	15.86	2.06	0.50	3.66	0.89
>24,100 JD (n = 29)	64.86	17.30	2.11	0.63	3.44	0.92
	F = 1.487, p = 0.206		F = 0.760, p = 0.552		F = 2.405, p = 0.049*

* p ≤ 0.05.

Table 4. Predictors of outcome variables^a.

Independent variables	SF-36		PSS-4		Insecurity		SF-36^c
	β	p value	β	p value	β	p value	β	p value
Palestinian Citizenship^b	−0.095	0.151	0.065	0.267	−0.457	***	−0.137	*
Household Size	−0.068	0.302	0.139	*	0.071	0.328	0.021	0.732
City type^d	0.042	0.508	−0.158	**	0.005	0.962	0.030	0.620
Sex^e	−0.034	0.597	0.189	**	0.175	0.127	0.003	0.959
Age	−0.015	0.812	0.134	*	−0.006	0.767	−0.026	658
Insecurity	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	−0.176	**

^a The following did not significantly predict any of the outcome measures: religion, income.

^b Omitted category = Israeli citizenship.

^c SF-36 model modified with PSS and Insecurity as predictor variables. NA = not applicable. PSS was not significant.

^d 1 = Urban, 2 = Rural.

^e 1 = Male, 2 = Female.

* p ≤ 0.05

** p ≤ 0.01

*** p ≤ 0.001.