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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Life Course Res. 2014 Dec 24;23:67–85. doi: 10.1016/j.alcr.2014.12.006

Table A.1.

Descriptive Statistics of Analytic Sample by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, NLSY 1979 Cohort

White Women
 Hispanic Women
 Black Women
Mean or Proportion S.D. N Mean or Proportion S.D. N Mean or Proportion S.D. N
Depressive symptoms (0-21) 3.61 4.26 d 2129 3.71 4.56 e 824 4.36 4.77 1302
Early life
    Self-esteem 1980 (0-30) 22.31 4.12 a 2050 21.32 3.96 d 784 22.26 3.99 1248
    Locus of control 1979 (0-12) 4.51 2.39 a,d 2117 5.07 2.47 814 5.12 2.32 1289
    Lived with two parents at age 14 (1=yes) 0.78 a,d 2129 0.66 d 823 0.50 1297
    Born outside US (1=yes) 0.03 a 2129 0.25 d 824 0.03 1302
    Mother's highest grade completed a,d d
        Less than high school 0.29 2045 0.74 771 0.56 1196
        High school 0.49 2045 0.19 771 0.33 1196
        Some college 0.11 2045 0.05 771 0.08 1196
        4 years or more of college 0.11 2045 0.02 771 0.04 1196
    Father's highest grade completed a,d d
        Less than high school 0.31 1980 0.67 672 0.53 963
        High school 0.39 1980 0.21 672 0.33 963
        Some college 0.11 1980 0.05 672 0.08 963
        4 years or more of college 0.19 1980 0.06 672 0.06 963
Persistent
    Persistent health limitation 0.07 0.15 d 2128 0.07 0.14 e 824 0.09 0.16 1299
    Persistently low net worth 0.13 0.22 a,d 2117 0.23 0.28 d 819 0.35 0.33 1291
    Persistent poverty status 0.11 0.20 a,d 2123 0.26 0.31 d 822 0.38 0.35 1298
    Persistent self-reported debt 0.09 0.22 a,d 2098 0.14 0.25 d 813 0.18 0.27 1281
    Persistent time unemployed 0.17 0.16 b,d 2128 0.19 0.17 d 824 0.29 0.22 1299
Concurrent
    Poor health-related quality of life (0-57.15) 17.47 8.69 d 2124 17.75 8.02 e 817 18.82 8.98 1298
    BMI a,d d
        Normal weight 0.51 1994 0.33 752 0.26 1193
        Overweight 0.26 1994 0.32 752 0.30 1193
        Obese I 0.14 1994 0.21 752 0.22 1193
        Obese II 0.09 1994 0.13 752 0.21 1193
    Smokerg (1= yes) 0.27 a 2037 0.16 d 763 0.26 1235
    Health plan coverage (1= yes) 0.88 a,d 2129 0.79 822 0.80 1300
    Married (1= yes) 0.70 a,d 2129 0.60 d 824 0.37 1301
    Children ever born (0-10) 1.87 1.27 a,d 2129 2.35 1.52 e 824 2.14 1.51 1302
    Education a,d d
        Less than high school 0.06 2129 0.18 824 0.11 1302
        High school 0.42 2129 0.40 824 0.41 1302
        Some college 0.24 2129 0.29 824 0.32 1302
        4 years or more of college 0.28 2129 0.14 824 0.16 1302
    Net worth a,d d
        Negative or zero 0.09 1932 0.18 738 0.26 1183
        $1-9,999 0.09 1932 0.16 738 0.23 1183
        $10,000-49,999 0.14 1932 0.20 738 0.23 1183
        $50,000-149,999 0.26 1932 0.21 738 0.17 1183
        $150,000-299,999 0.18 1932 0.12 738 0.07 1183
        $300,000 or more 0.23 1932 0.12 738 0.04 1183
    Poverty status (1= yes) 0.10 a,d 1841 0.21 e 696 0.28 1036
    Self-reported debt (1=yes) 0.07 a,d 2032 0.13 f 766 0.16 1228
    Weeks unemployed (0-52) 1.44 6.85 d 2096 2.01 8.00 797 2.71 9.72 1270
    Weeks out of labor force (0-52) 10.22 19.06 b 2096 12.45 20.79 e 797 9.90 18.85 1270
    Age at assessment (39-49) 41.11 0.97 2129 41.18 1.10 f 824 41.07 0.95 1302
White Men
 Hispanic Men
 Black Men
Mean or Proportion S.D. N Mean or Proportion S.D. N Mean or Proportion S.D. N
Depressive symptoms (0-21) 2.58 3.60 c,d 2044 2.98 4.04 812 3.25 4.11 1253
Early life
    Self-esteem 1980 (0-30) 22.75 4.02 a,e 1961 21.71 4.05 d 748 22.36 4.08 1196
    Locus of control 1979 (0-12) 4.38 2.42 a,d 2026 5.14 2.46 e 801 4.84 2.35 1233
    Lived with two parents at age 14 (1=yes) 0.80 a,d 2040 0.66 d 811 0.51 1251
    Born outside US (1=yes) 0.03 a 2043 0.26 d 812 0.02 1253
    Mother's highest grade completed a,d d
        Less than high school 0.25 1955 0.70 728 0.51 1120
        High school 0.52 1955 0.21 728 0.36 1120
        Some college 0.12 1955 0.05 728 0.07 1120
        4 years or more of college 0.11 1955 0.04 728 0.06 1120
    Father's highest grade completed a,d d
        Less than high school 0.29 1914 0.65 665 0.51 922
        High school 0.37 1914 0.22 665 0.37 922
        Some college 0.13 1914 0.05 665 0.06 922
        4 years or more of college 0.21 1914 0.07 665 0.06 922
Persistent
    Persistent health limitation 0.04 0.12 b,d 2043 0.06 0.15 811 0.06 0.14 1252
    Persistently low net worth 0.12 0.21 a,d 2033 0.22 0.28 d 805 0.33 0.33 1245
    Persistent poverty status 0.08 0.16 a,d 2041 0.19 0.26 d 811 0.25 0.29 1251
    Persistent self-reported debt 0.10 0.22 a,d 2015 0.15 0.27 789 0.17 0.26 1223
    Persistent time unemployed 0.19 0.19 a,d 2043 0.25 0.22 d 811 0.30 0.23 1252
Concurrent
    Poor health-related quality of life (0-57.15) 16.26 6.71 a,d 2033 17.33 7.84 805 17.17 7.62 1247
    BMI a,e f
        Normal weight 0.26 1971 0.17 767 0.22 1199
        Overweight 0.47 1971 0.48 767 0.46 1199
        Obese I 0.20 1971 0.22 767 0.22 1199
        Obese II 0.07 1971 0.13 767 0.10 1199
    Smokerg (1= yes) 0.27 b 1915 0.21 d 736 0.30 1128
    Health plan coverage (1= yes) 0.85 a,d 2042 0.72 810 0.71 1250
    Married (1= yes) 0.69 a,d 2042 0.57 d 812 0.41 1253
    Children ever born (0-10) 1.64 1.30 a,d 2044 2.06 1.58 812 1.96 1.62 1253
    Education a,d d
        Less than high school 0.09 2044 0.22 812 0.13 1253
        High school 0.43 2044 0.44 812 0.53 1253
        Some college 0.20 2044 0.23 812 0.21 1253
        4 years or more of college 0.28 2044 0.11 812 0.12 1253
    Net worth a,d d
        Negative or zero 0.08 1910 0.17 709 0.26 1097
        $1-9,999 0.08 1910 0.17 709 0.21 1097
        $10,000-49,999 0.15 1910 0.22 709 0.21 1097
        $50,000-149,999 0.25 1910 0.21 709 0.19 1097
        $150,000-299,999 0.19 1910 0.12 709 0.08 1097
        $300,000 or more 0.23 1910 0.11 709 0.05 1097
    Poverty status (1= yes) 0.06 a,d 1830 0.16 d 677 0.24 988
    Self-reported debt (1=yes) 0.07 a,d 1945 0.12 735 0.15 1133
    Weeks unemployed (0-52) 1.39 6.63 c,d 1987 2.07 8.63 d 785 3.69 11.51 1214
    Weeks out of labor force (0-52) 3.28 11.48 a,d 1987 6.17 15.54 e 785 8.47 18.02 1214
Age at assessment (38-49) 41.16 1.06 a 2044 41.26 1.17 812 41.22 1.18 1253

Notes

Significance tests are two-tailed and test for differences across racial and ethnic groups in means for continuous variables, in proportions for binary variables, and chi-square differences tests for categorical variables with more than two categories.

The “persistent” factors are the proportion of waves in which the respondent was at a particular status (e.g., had a health limitation), and the descriptive statistics are means of these proportions.

a

significantly different from Hispanic (same gender) at p < .001

b

significantly different from Hispanic (same gender) at p < .01

c

significantly different from Hispanic (same gender) at p < .05

d

significantly different from black (same gender) at p < .001

e

significantly different from black (same gender) at p < .01

f

significantly different from black (same gender) at p < .05

g

measured in 1998