Table 1.
Descriptive characteristics of the participants by cohort study.
| Add Health | BHPS | GSOEP | HILDA | HRS | MIDUS | NCDS | US | WLSg | WLSs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N of participants | ||||||||||
| Cross-sectional analysis | 5,025 | 13,626 | 18,303 | 11,046 | 13,614 | 6,259 | 8,608 | 30,877 | 6,612 | 3,929 |
| Longitudinal analysis | - | 10,585 | 12,679 | 8,462 | 12,195 | 4,634 | - | - | 5,214 | 2,966 |
| Age | 29.0 (1.8) | 45.4 (18.3) | 47.3 (17.3) | 43.8 (17.9) | 67.2 (10.4) | 46.8 (12.9) | 47.2 (17.9) | 50.3 (0.5) | 54.1 (0.5) | 53.1 (7.3) |
| Sex | ||||||||||
| Men | 45.9 (2,309) | 45.4 (6,282) | 47.9 (9,790) | 46.7 (5,182) | 40.8 (5,669) | 47.5 (2,971) | 48.1 (4,141) | 43.8 (13,532) | 46.2 (3,083) | 46.5 (1,847) |
| Women | 54.1 (2,717) | 54.6 (7,541) | 52.1 (10,644) | 53.3 (5,909) | 59.2 (8,231) | 52.5 (3,288) | 51.9 (4,467) | 56.2 (17,386) | 53.8 (3,591) | 53.5 (2,122) |
| Education | ||||||||||
| Primary | 33.6 (1,687) | 27.8 (3,788) | 16.1 (2,787) | 34.6 (3,825) | 18.2 (2,481) | 8.7 (545) | 18.1 (1,557) | 42.6 (13,009) | 72.1 (4,769) | 5.2 (204) |
| Secondary | 53.5 (2,686) | 57.7 (7,861) | 61.3 (10,636) | 44.3 (4,894) | 55.3 (7,524) | 59.3 (3,704) | 61.7 (5,308) | 20.2 (6,177) | 27.9 (1,843) | 64.2 (2,521) |
| Tertiary | 13.0 (652) | 14.5 (1,972) | 22.6 (3,927) | 21.1 (2,327) | 26.4 (3,594) | 32.0 (1,997) | 20.3 (1,743) | 37.2 (11,357) | - | 30.6 (1,204) |
| Nationality / ethnicity | ||||||||||
| Majority | 71.8 (3,609) | 85.5 (11,644) | 93.1 (17,045) | 79.2 (8,751) | 78.1 (10,631) | 88.9 (5,567) | 98.0 (8,437) | 83.1 (25,674) | 100.0 (6,612) | 100.0 (3,929) |
| Minority | 28.2 (1,416) | 14.5 (1,982) | 6.9 (1,258) | 20.8 (2,295) | 21.9 (2,983) | 11.1 (692) | 2.0 (171) | 16.9 (5,203) | - | - |
| Marital status | ||||||||||
| Married/cohabiting | 41.6 (2,092) | 52.0 (7,081) | 60.1 (11,009) | 59.3 (6,551) | 63.7 (8,675) | 67.7 (4,234) | 70.0 (6,028) | 63.3 (19,531) | 83.3 (5,504) | 80.9 (3,151) |
| Single | 58.4 (2,933) | 48.0 (6,540) | 39.9 (7,294) | 40.7 (4,495) | 36.3 (4,936) | 32.3 (2,022) | 30.0 (2,580) | 36.7 (11,345) | 16.7 (1,107) | 19.1 (744) |
| Follow-up time (months) | - | 36.1 (1.3) | 48.1 (1.6) | 48.0 (1.3) | 35.6 (15.9) | 107.5 (6.3) | - | - | 134.0 (4.2) | 135.9 (6.7) |
| Baseline depressive symptoms | 2.6 (2.5) | 11.3 (5.5) | 11.4 (3.6) | 25.8 (16.8) | 1.4 (1.9) | 0.7 (1.9) | 3.4 (4.5) | 11.1 (5.5) | 17.3 (6.0) | 17.4 (6.3) |
| Follow-up depressive symptoms | - | 11.5 (5.6) | 11.5 (3.5) | 24.8 (16.7) | 1.4 (1.9) | 0.6 (1.7) | - | - | 16.5 (5.6) | 16.8 (5.9) |
Note. Values are means (and standard deviations). Because of missing data in covariates, numbers of covariate frequencies may not add up to the total number of participants with personality and baseline depressive symptoms data.
ADDHEALTH, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health; BHPS, British Household Panel Survey; GSOEP, German Socio-Economic Panel Study; HILDA, Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia; HRS, Health and Retirement Study; MIDUS, Midlife in the United States; NCDS, National Child Development Study; US, Understanding Society; WLSG, Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduate Sample; WLSS, Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Sibling Sample.