Table 1.
Sample Descriptives and Tests of Group Differences Between Those Who Experienced a Family Member’s Death and Those Who Did Not Experience Any Family Member Deaths (N = 962a)
| Variable | Experienced a Family Member’s Death (n = 94) |
No Family Member Death (n = 868) |
Tests of Differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage | p-valueb | ||
|
| |||
| Women | 52.1 % | 55.7 % | .515 |
| Married | 55.3 % | 64.4 % | .082 |
| White | 71.3 % | 81.7 % | .015 |
| Currently smoking | 12.8 % | 13.3 % | .895 |
| Taking hypertension medication | 35.1 % | 24.3 % | .022 |
| Have cardiovascular disease | 9.6 % | 6.6 % | .273 |
| Engage in physical activity | 69.2 % | 75.7 % | .164 |
| Good sleep quality | 46.8 % | 54.5 % | .156 |
|
| |||
| M (SD) | p-valuec | ||
|
| |||
| Age | 57.8 (11.3) | 53.8 (12.3) | .0014 |
| Level of educationd | 7.6 (2.8) | 8.0 (2.5) | .07 |
| BMI | 30.0 (7.0) | 29.3 (6.7) | .172 |
| RMSSD ln(ms) | 2.8 (0.7) | 3.0 (0.6) | .007 |
| High-Frequency HRV ln(ms2) | 4.7 (1.4) | 5.0 (1.3) | .005 |
Notes. SD = standard deviation; BMI = body mass index; Ln = natural log; Ms = milliseconds.
a
N derived from listwise deletion of study variables.
b
Chi-square test of difference.
c
Independent sample t-test of difference.
d
Level of education was coded as 1 = Grade school or below ~ 12 = Doctoral or professional degree.