Table 1.
Participant characteristics for overall sample. N = 815.
| Variable | Overall (N = 815) | Premenopause (N = 392) | Postmenopause (N = 423) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD) | 51.1 (7.2) | 45.1 (3.7) | 56.7 (4.7) |
| Annual Income, mean (SD) | $70,535 ($54,322) | $85,015 ($53,633) | $56,055 ($54,981) |
| Race, N (%) | |||
| White | 752 (92.3) | 359 (91.6) | 393 (92.9) |
| Black/African American | 31 (3.8) | 21 (5.4) | 10 (2.4) |
| Asian American | 3 (.4) | 1 (.3) | 2 (.5) |
| Native American/Alaska Native | 7 (.9) | 1 (.3) | 6 (1.4) |
| Other/Don’t Know | 22 (2.7) | 10 (2.6) | 12 (2.9) |
| Education, N (%) | |||
| Professional Degree | 26 (3.2) | 12 (3.1) | 14 (3.3) |
| Master’s Degree | 102 (12.5) | 56 (14.3) | 46 (10.9) |
| Some Graduate School | 32 (3.9) | 17 (4.3) | 15 (3.5) |
| Bachelors | 180 (22.1) | 98 (25.0) | 82 (19.4) |
| Two-Year | 67 (8.2) | 35 (8.9) | 32 (7.6) |
| 3+ college | 33 (4.4) | 19 (4.8) | 14 (3.3) |
| 1–2 college | 148 (18.2) | 66 (16.8) | 82 (19.4) |
| High school | 189 (23.2) | 79 (20.2) | 110 (26.0) |
| GED | 10 (1.2) | 4 (1.0) | 6 (1.4) |
| Did not graduate high school | 28 (3.4) | 6 (1.6) | 22 (5.2) |
| Self-Rated Health, N (%) | |||
| Excellent (1) | 179 (22.0) | 100 (25.5) | 79 (18.7) |
| Very Good (2) | 335 (41.1) | 172 (43.9) | 163 (38.5) |
| Good (3) | 226 (27.7) | 93 (23.7) | 133 (31.4) |
| Fair (4) | 60 (7.4) | 21 (5.4) | 39 (9.2) |
| Poor | 15 (1.8) | 6 (1.5) | 9 (2.1) |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 27.4 (6.7) | 26.9 (6.0) | 28.0 (7.2)* |
| Less than 18.5 (underweight), N (%) | 11 (1.3) | 5 (1.3) | 6 (1.4) |
| 18.63 – 25 (healthy), N (%) | 331 (40.6) | 168 (42.9) | 163 (38.5) |
| 25.0 – 29.9 (overweight), N (%) | 238 (29.2) | 115 (29.3) | 123 (29.1) |
| Greater than or equal to 30 (obese), N (%) | 235 (28.8) | 104 (26.5) | 131 (31.0) |
| Stress Eating, mean (SD) | 4.2 (2.0) | 4.2 (2.0) | 4.2 (2.0) |
| High, N (%) | 327 (40.1) | 153 (39.0) | 174 (41.1) |
| Moderate, N (%) | 251 (30.9) | 130 (33.2) | 121 (28.6) |
| Low, N (%) | 237 (29.1) | 109 (27.8) | 128 (30.3) |
| Depressive Symptoms, mean (SD) | .70 (1.9) | .80 (1.9) | .70 (1.9) |
| Major Depression (No), N (%) | 699 (85.8) | 332 (84.5) | 367 (86.8) |
| Major Depression (Yes), N (%) | 116 (14.2) | 60 (15.3) | 56 (13.2) |
Self-rated health consists of scale ranging from 1 to 5 with items reversed scored such that 1 indicates “excellent” and 5 indicates “poor.”
* Indicates a statistically significant difference between pre and postmenopausal women.
The high stress eating group consisted of individuals who answered the questions about food quantity and preference with “a lot” and/or “a medium amount” (i.e., score of 6–8). The moderate stress eating group consisted of individuals who responded with “a medium amount, and/or “only a little” (i.e., score of 4–5). The low stress eating group consisted of individuals who answered “only a little” and/or “not at all” (i.e., score of 2–3). Stress eating was split into high, moderate, and low stress eating groups for descriptive analyses only. A continuous measure of stress eating was used in all additional analyses.
A current diagnosis of major depression was determined if participants indicated a score of “1” or above on the CIDI-SF. A score of “1” indicates a current diagnosis of major depression as specified in the DSM-III-R. A score of “0” indicated that a participant did not meet criteria for a current diagnosis of major depression.