Table 1.
Sample descriptive characteristics; Midlife in the United States Study (time 1 data collected in 1995–1996).
| Mean ± SD | % | |
|---|---|---|
| Biological sex (1=female) | 52.5 | |
| Cohabitation status (1=cohabiting) | 67.6 | |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| European American | 90.8 | |
| African American | 5.2 | |
| Other | 4.1 | |
| Age at time 1 (in years) | 46.86 ±12.91 | |
| Age at time 2 (in years) | 55.69 ±12.41 | |
| Age at time 3 (in years) | 63.78 ±11.36 | |
| Age categories (time 1) | ||
| 35 years old and younger | 22.9 | |
| 36 to 45 years old | 25.9 | |
| 46 to 55 years old | 23.7 | |
| 55 to 75 years old | 27.5 | |
| Weight status | ||
| Overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.99) | 37.5 | |
| Obese (BMI ≥ 30) | 21.0 | |
| Neuroticism (scale of 1–5) | 2.24 ±0.66 | |
| Negative affect (scale of 1–4) | 1.54 ±0.62 | |
| Current employment status | 63.2 | |
| Socioeconomic disadvantage | 0.00 ±1.00 | |
| Educational level | 6.84 ±2.49 | |
| Household income (in thousands of $) | 56.44 ±46.18 | |
| Occupational prestige | 40.18 ±14.17 | |
| Assets (in thousands of $) | 120.5 ±208.8 | |
| Perceived work inequality at time 1 and 2 (scale of 1–4) | 1.61 ±0.54 | |
| Everyday discrimination at time 1 and 2 (scale of 1–4) | 1.44 ±0.49 | |
| Self-rated health at time 1 | 3.63 ±0.80 | |
| Self-rated health at time 3 | 3.53 ±0.87 |
Note. All descriptive statistics are reported for time 1 unless otherwise noted. Education was assessed on a 12-point scale ranging from less than eighth grade (coded as 1) to completion of a professional degree (coded as 12). The mean score in the current sample corresponds to completion of some college. Occupational prestige was calculated from Census occupation categories using established methods (Stevens & Cho, 1985); values ranged from 9.56 to 80.53 with higher scores indicating greater prestige. For reference, the average occupation in the United States corresponds to a score of approximately 35 with a SD of 18 across all occupational categories (Stevens & Cho, 1985).