Table 1.
Sample characteristics stratified by the use of social network sites (German Ageing Survey, fifth wave, n = 7837)
| Daily (n = 3002; 38.3%) | Several times a week (n = 1362; 17.4%) | Once a week (n = 422; 5.4%) | 1 to 3 times a month (n = 180; 2.3%) | Less often (n = 508; 6.5%) | Never (n = 2363; 30.1%) | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%)/Mean (SD) | N (%)/Mean (SD) | N (%)/Mean (SD) | N (%)/Mean (SD) | N (%)/Mean (SD) | N (%)/Mean (SD) | ||
| Social isolation (from 1 (lowest social isolation) to 4 (highest social isolation)) | 1.5 (0.5) | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.7 (0.6) | 1.7 (0.7) | <.001 |
| Gender: Female | 1263 (31.6%) | 755 (18.9%) | 232 (5.8%) | 107 (2.7%) | 295 (7.4%) | 1344 (33.6%) | <.001 |
| Age in years | 61.0 (10.3) | 61.3 (10.5) | 61.4 (10.3) | 61.8 (10.4) | 61.7 (9.8) | 72.0 (9.4) | <.001 |
| Marital status: - married and living together with spouse | 2234 (40.8%) | 965 (17.6%) | 308 (5.6%) | 118 (2.2%) | 386 (7.1%) | 1464 (26.7%) | <.001 |
| Employment status: - employed | 1432 (50.0%) | 646 (22.5%) | 200 (7.0%) | 85 (3.0%) | 238 (8.3%) | 265 (9.2%) | <.001 |
| - retired | 1305 (30.6%) | 595 (14.0%) | 195 (4.6%) | 73 (1.7%) | 215 (5.0%) | 1879 (44.1%) | |
| - other: not employed | 265 (37.6%) | 120 (17.0%) | 27 (3.8%) | 22 (3.1%) | 54 (7.7%) | 217 (30.8%) | |
| Monthly net equivalent income in Euro | 2300.5 (1696.8) | 2026.0 (1208.8) | 1866.9 (957.6) | 1738.0 (955.3) | 1822.6 (934.7) | 1496.4 (1017.8) | <.001 |
| Smoking status: - daily | 413 (38.4%) | 199 (18.5%) | 58 (5.4%) | 40 (3.7%) | 90 (8.4%) | 276 (25.6%) | <.001 |
| - Yes, sometimes | 140 (45.3%) | 57 (18.4%) | 20 (6.5%) | 8 (2.6%) | 25 (8.1%) | 59 (19.1%) | |
| - Not anymore | 1238 (43.0%) | 482 (16.7%) | 146 (5.1%) | 59 (2.1%) | 172 (6.0%) | 781 (27.1%) | |
| - Never been smoker | 1189 (34.0%) | 615 (17.6%) | 196 (5.6%) | 71 (2.0%) | 219 (6.2%) | 1210 (34.6%) | |
| Consumption of alcohol: - daily | 414 (44.8%) | 146 (15.8%) | 46 (5.0%) | 13 (1.4%) | 56 (6.0%) | 250 (27.0%) | <.001 |
| - several times a week | 907 (48.2%) | 348 (18.5%) | 91 (4.8%) | 41 (2.2%) | 103 (5.5%) | 391 (20.8%) | |
| - once a week | 480 (38.6%) | 267 (21.5%) | 91 (7.3%) | 36 (2.9%) | 76 (6.1%) | 294 (23.6%) | |
| - one to three times a month | 338 (36.1%) | 196 (20.9%) | 65 (6.9%) | 19 (2.0%) | 73 (7.8%) | 247 (26.3%) | |
| - less frequently | 555 (29.8%) | 291 (15.6%) | 98 (5.3%) | 51 (2.7%) | 138 (7.4%) | 729 (39.2%) | |
| - never | 268 (30.7%) | 101 (11.6%) | 29 (3.3%) | 17 (1.9%) | 53 (6.1%) | 406 (46.4%) | |
| Physical activity: - daily | 284 (42.9%) | 95 (14.3%) | 36 (5.4%) | 11 (1.7%) | 42 (6.3%) | 195 (29.4%) | <.001 |
| - several times a week | 988 (46.3%) | 488 (22.9%) | 125 (5.8%) | 36 (1.7%) | 122 (5.7%) | 376 (17.6%) | |
| - once a week | 570 (40.0%) | 256 (17.9%) | 83 (5.8%) | 38 (2.7%) | 126 (8.8%) | 354 (24.8%) | |
| - one to three times a month | 242 (40.9%) | 115 (19.4%) | 33 (5.6%) | 20 (3.4%) | 46 (7.7%) | 136 (23.0%) | |
| - less frequently | 380 (41.4%) | 159 (17.3%) | 63 (6.9%) | 21 (2.3%) | 74 (8.0%) | 221 (24.1%) | |
| - never | 538 (25.6%) | 249 (11.9%) | 82 (3.9%) | 53 (2.5%) | 98 (4.7%) | 1081 (51.4%) | |
| Self-rated health (from 1 = “very good” to 5 = “very bad”) | 2.4 (0.8) | 2.4 (0.8) | 2.5 (0.9) | 2.4 (0.9) | 2.5 (0.8) | 2.7 (0.8) | <.001 |
| Number of physical illnesses (from 0 to 11) | 2.3 (1.7) | 2.4 (1.8) | 2.3 (1.7) | 2.4 (1.8) | 2.5 (1.8) | 3.2 (2.0) | <.001 |
| Depression (CES-D ≥ 18) | 139 (28.4%) | 86 (17.6%) | 30 (6.1%) | 12 (2.5%) | 33 (6.7%) | 189 (38.7%) | <.001 |
| Physical functioning (from 0 = lowest score to 100 = best score) | 86.8 (18.9) | 85.4 (19.9) | 84.7 (20.9) | 84.9 (19.0) | 82.5 (22.0) | 72.1 (26.8) | <.001 |