ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sociol.
Sec. Migration and Society
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1691938
This article is part of the Research TopicInterconnected Lives: Experiences and Resilience of Transnational Families in a Shifting Global LandscapeView all 14 articles
The Anatomy of Well-Being: Understanding its Psychosocial and Sociodemographic Dimensions
Provisionally accepted
- 1Catholic University of Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
- 2Universidade Catolica Portuguesa Centro de Estudos de Comunicacao e Cultura, Lisbon, Portugal
- 3Universidade Catolica Portuguesa Research Centre for Psychological Family and Social Wellbeing, Lisbon, Portugal
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Migration processes should be analysed in terms of their psychosocial impact within a multisystemic context. This study aims to identify the psychosocial and sociodemographic factors that influence the well-being of Portuguese migrants, focusing on aspects such as educational qualifications, health, employment status, the length of time they have been outside Portugal and where they live. Participants are three hundred and ninety-five Portuguese emigrants currently living abroad, aged between 20 and 78 (M = 37.60, SD = 8.65). The participants live in various geographical locations. About three-quarters (77%, n = 302) of respondents lived in European countries, particularly in urban areas (71%, n = 281), mainly women (78%, n = 308). Linear regression models used as independent variables gender, health, marital status, qualifications, professional status, residence, age and years since emigrating and as dependent variables the satisfaction with social ties, connection, cohesion, acculturation and adaptation. Data were collected through an online survey using non-probabilistic recruitment, and analysed with ANOVA for mean comparisons and stepwise linear regression to identify the strongest predictors of well-being dimensions. The results suggest that interventions aimed at promoting migrants' well-being should integrate the social, physical, and mental dimensions of health, recognising the importance of support networks, a sense of belonging, employment conditions, and community cohesion for adaptation and integration. The study emphasises the importance of synergy between individual and contextual well-being in creating healthy spaces, populations and communities.
Keywords: Well-being, Migrations, Psychosocial factors, sociodemographic factors, integration, Social determinants
Received: 24 Aug 2025; Accepted: 24 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Barros, Malta Cruz and Gaspar de Matos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Carlos Barros, cbarros@ucp.pt
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