The Role of Demographic and Positive Psychological Factors on Quality of Life in Ghanaian Orphans Placed in Orphanages: An Exploratory Study

Much of the literature on predictors of quality of life (QoL) in orphanage-placed children has focussed on psychopathologies with little emphasis on positive psychological factors. Against this background, the present study aimed to explore the influence of demographic variables (age and sex) and positive psychological variables (perceived social support, self-efficacy and resilience) on the overall QoL of 100 orphaned children, who were aged between 7 and 17 years and lived in orphanages in Accra, Ghana. Participants completed measures of quality of life, self-efficacy, resilience, perceived social support and a demographic questionnaire. Analyses indicated that older orphans had higher levels of resilience and self-efficacy than younger orphans. However, older orphans had lower perceptions of support from friends, family and significant others than younger orphans. Moreover, females had higher self-efficacy than males. Furthermore, perceived social support and resilience emerged as significant positive predictors of quality of life. Implications of the findings are discussed.