Table 1.

Characteristics of African-American and White adults in the MIDUS II Biomarker Project (n=1,204)

	All (1,204)	African-Americans (n=226)	Whites (n=978)	p-value
		% or mean (SD)	% or mean (SD)
Age (years)	54.68 (11.77)	50.90 (10.59)	55.54 (11.87)	<.001
Male (%)	43.02	32.30	45.50	<.001
Marriage Status (%)
Currently married	64.83	28.32	73.27	<.001
Formerly married	22.96	39.38	19.16
Never married	12.21	32.30	7.57
Currently Employed (%)	70.62	62.39	72.53	.003
Education (%)
HS or less	28.07	46.90	23.72	<.001
Some College	22.48	27.88	21.24
At least Associates/Bachelors	49.44	25.22	55.04
Total Household Income	69960.70 (58260.01)	38192.50 (34567.70)	77301.80 (60129.00)	<.001
Pervasive Discrimination Score (%)
0	44.18	30.75	47.28	<.001
1	31.51	26.59	32.65
2 or 3	24.31	42.65	20.07
Allostatic Load Score	1.75 (1.05)	1.93 (1.01)	1.71 (1.05)	.005
Neuroticism1	2.03 (0.63)	2.10 (0.69)	2.02 (0.62)	.11
Negative affect2	1.53 (0.62)	1.77 (0.83)	1.48 (0.54)	<.001
Oral Steroid Use (%)	1.16	2.21	0.92	<.001
Beta Blocker Use (%)	14.53	15.04	14.42	.45
SSRI Use (%)	8.14	2.65	9.41	<.001
Cholesterol Med Use (%)	28.41	21.24	30.06	<.001
Current Smoker (%)	13.54	27.88	10.22	<.001
Alcohol Use (%)
No alcohol in past month	34.14	44.48	31.78	.002
<Once per week in past month	31.15	27.57	31.98
≥Once per week in past month	34.70	28.05	36.24
Physical Activity Score3	29.72 (10.90)	29.72 (12.65)	29.72 (10.45)	.98
Body Mass Index	29.78 (6.62)	32.80 (8.33)	29.08 (5.94)	<.001

Percentages or mean (SD=standard deviation) presented.

P-values determined from chi-square and t-tests across racial groups.

¹Out of a possible 4 points

²Out of a possible 6 points

³Weighted score based on 3 questions (range: 9 to 54).

SSRI= selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; MIDUS=Midlife in the United States.