TABLE 3.
Sociodemographic characteristics of survey respondents (n = 1,854).
| Bereavement exposure | Sudden natural causes (n = 1,106) n (%) | Sudden unnatural causes (n = 395) n (%) | Suicide (n = 353) n (%) | Total (n = 1,854) n (%) | p-valuea |
| Socio-demographic characteristics | |||||
| Gender† | |||||
| Male | 217 (20) | 68 (17) | 67 (19) | 352 (19) | 0.579 |
| Female | 889 (80) | 327 (83) | 286 (81) | 1,502 (81) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Age of participant (years)† | |||||
| Mean (SD) | 25.5 (6.4) | 25.8 (6.4) | 25.6 (6.0) | 25.6 (6.3) | 0.006 |
| Aged 18–21 | 412 (37) | 133 (34) | 112 (32) | 657 (35) | 0.119 |
| Aged 22–40 | 694 (63) | 262 (66) | 241 (68) | 1,197 (65) | |
| Relationship status | |||||
| Single | 759 (69) | 277 (70) | 231 (65) | 1,267 (68) | 0.132 |
| Within a relationship | 347 (31) | 116 (29) | 121 (34) | 584 (32) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 2 (1) | 1 (<1) | 3 (<1) | |
| Self-defined ethnicity | |||||
| White | 994 (90) | 362 (92) | 323 (92) | 1,679 (91) | 0.242 |
| Non-white | 112 (10) | 32 (8) | 30 (9) | 174 (9) | |
| Missing | |||||
| Socio-economic status†b | |||||
| Social classes 1.1 and 1.2 | 680 (62) | 252 (64) | 222 (63) | 1,154 (62) | 0.802 |
| Social classes 3 –7 and 9 | 402 (36) | 132 (33) | 124 (35) | 658 (36) | |
| Missing | 24 (2) | 11 (3) | 7 (2) | 42 (2) | |
| Educational status | |||||
| Attained maximum A level equivalent | 473 (43) | 156 (40) | 128 (36) | 757 (41) | 0.187 |
| Attained degree level or above | 630 (57) | 238 (60) | 225 (64) | 1,903 (59) | |
| Missing | 3 (<1) | 1 (<1) | 0 (0) | 4 (<1) | |
| Clinical characteristics | |||||
| Pre-bereavement depression†c | |||||
| Yes | 230 (21) | 72 (18) | 92 (26) | 384 (21) | 0.037 |
| No | 876 (79) | 322 (82) | 260 (74) | 1,458 (79) | |
| Missing | 0 (0) | 1 (<1) | 1 (<1) | 2 (<1) | |
| Family history of any psychiatric problems (including drug and alcohol problems)† | |||||
| Yes | 727 (67) | 270 (69) | 255 (72) | 1,262 (68) | 0.287 |
| No | 368 (33) | 124 (31) | 98 (28) | 590 (32) | |
| Missing | 1 (<1) | 1 (<1) | 0 (0) | 2 (<1) | |
| Characteristics of the bereavement | |||||
| Kinship to the deceased | |||||
| Blood-related | 168 (15) | 199 (50) | 170 (48) | 537 (29) | <0.001 |
| Non blood-related | 934 (85) | 193 (49) | 183 (52) | 1,310 (71) | |
| Missing | 4 (<1) | 3 (1) | 0 (0) | 7 (<1) | |
| Years since bereavement† | |||||
| Mean (SD) | 4.8 (5.3) | 5.1 (5.2) | 5.1 (5.0) | 4.9 (5.2) | 0.066 |
| less than2 years | 376 (34) | 106 (27) | 98 (28) | 580 (31) | 0.009 |
| Over 2 years | 730 (66) | 289 (73) | 255 (72) | 1,274 (69) | |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
†Covariates included in adjusted model. ap-values for univariate associations of characteristics with loneliness scores. bSocio-economic status using the five categories from UK Office for National Statistics. cMeasured using CIDI screen for depression. p-values in bold indicate those below the threshold for statistical significance.