Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the sample by rural childhood residence, Health and Retirement Study, 1998–2014
| Rural childhood residence (n=7,659) |
Non-rural childhood residence (n=8,363) |
P-value from significance testa | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline age (years), mean (standard deviation) | 60.1 (6.9) | 59.5 (7.0) | <0.0001 |
| Birth year, mean (standard deviation) | 1939 (8.3) | 1940 (8.7) | <0.0001 |
| Female, % | 54.5 | 56.6 | 0.0057 |
| Race/ethnicity, % | 0.0248 | ||
| Non-Latino White | 78.7 | 79.8 | |
| Non-Latino Black | 15.0 | 14.0 | |
| Non-Latino Other | 1.8 | 1.4 | |
| Latino | 4.5 | 4.8 | |
| Southern birth regionb, % | 46.2 | 30.2 | <0.0001 |
| Father’s education, % | <0.0001 | ||
| Do not know | 14.3 | 10.6 | |
| <8 years | 26.6 | 17.6 | |
| ≥8 years | 59.1 | 71.8 | |
| Mother’s education, % | <0.0001 | ||
| Do not know | 11.4 | 7.8 | |
| <8 Years | 19.6 | 13.6 | |
| ≥8 Years | 69.0 | 78.6 | |
| Own education (years), mean (standard deviation) | 12.1 (2.9) | 13.4 (2.6) | <0.0001 |
| Fair or poor childhood health, % | 6.5 | 6.0 | 0.1620 |
| Childhood financial capitalc, mean (standard deviation) | −0.1 (1.0) | 0.1 (1.0) | <0.0001 |
| Elevated depressive symptoms (>4 symptoms) at baseline, % | 10.2 | 8.5 | 0.0003 |
a
Chi-squared tests used for categorical and binary measures; t-tests used for continuous measures.
b
Southern birth region or non-Southern birth region based on U.S. Census region, which includes the following states: Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana
c
Childhood financial capital is a scaled score from self-reported measures of average financial resources and financial instability in childhood and was standardized to the analytic sample33.