Life After Displacement: Syrian Refugees Face Unequal Well-Being in Spain and Jordan

The survey examined four areas of life, giving researchers a broader picture than physical health alone and allowing participants to describe their emotional well-being, relationships and surroundings.

For people displaced by conflict, the effects of violence, family separation and interrupted education can remain part of daily life after resettlement. Financial strain, limited job opportunities and discrimination may add to those pressures, making the surroundings in which refugees rebuild their lives central to their well-being. Access to stable housing, supportive relationships and practical assistance offers a useful starting point for understanding the different experiences reported in Spain and Jordan.

The study "Quality of Life and Well-Being of Syrian Refugees: Insights from Spain and Jordan," published in Behavioral Sciences, compared 200 Syrian adults and found higher reported quality of life among participants in Spain across physical health, psychological well-being, social relationships and living conditions. The findings highlight how difficulties after displacement sit alongside the burden of conflict, with some groups facing greater challenges than others.

Two countries and different experiences of daily life

Researchers surveyed 100 refugees in each country between February 2023 and February 2024, recruiting through refugee services, communities, social media and participant referrals. Each person completed demographic questions and the Arabic version of the World Health Organization's 26-question WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire during a single session. The survey examined four areas of life, giving researchers a broader picture than physical health alone and allowing participants to describe their emotional well-being, relationships and surroundings.

70% of participants were unemployed, 60.5% described their family income as low, and 46.5% had secondary education. Women accounted for 52.5% of the sample, and 43% were aged 18–29. Nearly half rated their overall quality of life as neither poor nor good, and a quarter described it as poor or very poor. Satisfaction with health was reported by 60.5%, including those who were very satisfied, giving a more positive picture of this particular aspect of their lives.

The Spanish group reported better outcomes across all four areas, with a particularly large gap in environmental quality of life, which covers everyday conditions and resources. Using the study's categories, 53% of participants in Jordan had poor or very poor environmental quality of life, compared with 12% in Spain. Good or excellent physical quality of life was recorded for 71% of the Spanish group and 36% of the Jordanian group.

Housing and financial security are tied to well-being

City residents generally reported better quality of life than people in smaller villages or rural settings. In Spain, urban residence was associated with better physical, social and environmental scores; in Jordan, city residents reported better psychological scores than village residents. Camp residents in Jordan had particularly low environmental scores, directing attention to housing, infrastructure and access to basic services. Higher educational qualifications were associated with better environmental scores in Jordan, although education showed no clear relationship across the combined sample.

Income was associated with physical, psychological and environmental quality of life, with lower-income participants generally reporting poorer outcomes. Full-time workers had better environmental scores than unemployed or part-time workers in the combined sample. These findings fit the researchers' broader view that resources available after displacement, including secure housing and employment, may help people manage continuing pressures.

85 participants in Spain lived in big cities, compared with 35 in Jordan, and all 40 camp residents were in Jordan. Unemployment affected 77% of the Spanish group and 63% of the Jordanian group. Refugees who had arrived less than five years earlier reported better physical, social and environmental scores in the combined analysis; 53 of these 57 recent arrivals lived in Spain. Within each country, tests found no clear association between time since arrival and domain scores, making a simple claim that well-being worsens over time unreliable.

Gender and family life show different patterns

Men reported better psychological well-being across the combined sample, and the Spanish group showed higher physical and psychological scores among men than women. The Jordanian group did not show a clear gender difference. In Jordan, participants aged 40–49 reported poorer physical and psychological quality of life than those aged 18–39. Age showed no clear association across the full sample, providing little basis for a broad conclusion that refugees' quality of life declines as they grow older.

Patterns involving marriage depended on the measure and country. Married participants were more often classified as having higher overall quality of life in the combined sample; single participants in Jordan reported better psychological scores than married participants. In Spain, single participants had better physical scores than married or divorced participants. Family support may matter to rebuilding a life, and the different patterns suggest that marital status needs to be considered alongside a person's wider circumstances.

Discrimination was another concern, with 69% reporting that it occurred never or rarely, 27% sometimes, and 4% often or always. People reporting low discrimination had better psychological scores than those reporting medium discrimination in the combined analysis. In Spain, that comparison also showed better environmental scores. The small group reporting high discrimination did not follow a consistent pattern, leaving limited evidence about differences between every level of exposure.

Refugee support needs to address everyday pressures

The researchers call for care that brings physical health, mental health, social inclusion and living conditions together. Their proposals include early psychological support, services responsive to women's needs, vocational training, recognition of qualifications, language learning and routes into formal employment. Improving camp infrastructure and basic services in Jordan, expanding access to affordable housing and community support in Spain, and addressing discrimination could help services respond to the difficulties identified in this sample. Continued attention to refugees facing financial strain or isolation matters beyond their initial arrival.

These findings remain exploratory because participants were recruited through convenience sampling and surveyed once, meaning they cannot represent all Syrian refugees in either country or establish cause and effect. The analysis compared groups without adjusting for overlapping influences such as housing, income and country of residence.

Numerous comparisons were made without corrections for chance findings, and some categories contained very few people. Income was self-rated relative to each country, discrimination frequency was measured through one question, and dividing overall quality of life at the midpoint of the scale simplified a more varied experience.

Larger, more representative studies that follow people over time could clarify how these pressures interact and which forms of support make the greatest difference. Daily diaries or repeated assessments could capture how discrimination and social support affect people's lives as experiences unfold. The practical concern raised by this research is the need to connect healthcare with secure living conditions, opportunities to earn a living and a sense of belonging, giving refugees support that responds to the realities of rebuilding their lives.