The significance of the social and material environment to place attachment and quality of life: findings from a large population-based health survey

BACKGROUND: There is an international public health interest in sustainable environments that promote human wellbeing. An individual’s bond to places, understood as place attachment (PA), is an important factor for quality of life (QoL). The material environment, such as access to nature (AtN), access to amenities (AtA), or noise, and the social environment, such as social support or loneliness, has the potential to influence PA. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between these factors and QoL. METHODS: The study relied on data from 28,047 adults from 30 municipalities in Southern Norway obtained from the Norwegian Counties Public Health Surveys in 2019. Latent regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between the material and social environmental factors and QoL, mediated by PA. RESULTS: We found a relationship between social and material environmental factors and PA. Higher AtN and AtA scores were related to an increase in PA, whereas higher perception of noise problems was related to decreased PA scores. When social environment factors were added to the model, they were even stronger predictors of PA and, in turn, QoL through mediated effects. We also found a strong positive association between PA and QoL (unstandardized β = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.87–0.90, p < 0.001). The whole model explained 83% of the variance in PA and 65% of the variance in QoL. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the findings suggest the relevance of material and social environmental factors for PA and QoL. Therefore, research on public health and QoL should include place-sensitive variables. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12955-022-02045-2.