Cross-cultural differences between Russian immigrants and Israeli college students: the effect of the family on the sense of coherence.

ABSTRACT

Differences between Israeli-born and Soviet-born college students were investigated in relation to their sense of coherence, family functioning and gender. 167 Soviet born and 127 Israeli born college students were compared on the Sense of Coherence scale, the General Functioning Scale of the McMaster FAD, and the scales of cohesiveness and adaptability of the FACES III, as well as on a variety of demographic variables. Results indicated that the stress of migration had a negative effect on the Sense of Coherence. Family functioning was the only variable that added significantly to the explanation of the variance of Sense of Coherence.