Table 1.
Descriptive Characteristics of American’s Changing Lives Study Analytic Sample at Baseline in 1986
| Predictor | All sample | Men | Women | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at baseline | 47.1 | 46.0 | 48.1 | ** |
| SD | (16.4) | (15.9) | (16.8) | |
| Education | ||||
| Less than high school | 25.6% | 24.9% | 26.2% | *** |
| High school | 31.4% | 27.7% | 34.6% | |
| Some college | 23.3% | 23.4% | 23.3% | |
| Bachelor’s degree or more | 19.7% | 24.1% | 15.9% | |
| Race | ||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 83.5% | 84.3% | 82.8% | n.s. |
| Non-Hispanic black | 11.0% | 10.0% | 11.8% | |
| Other | 5.6% | 5.7% | 5.4% | |
| HH income at baseline | $30,449 | $33,127 | $28,065 | *** |
| SD | ($24,043) | ($24,163) | ($23,689) | |
| % Working | 65.6% | 77.3% | 55.2% | *** |
| % Married | 72.9% | 80.1% | 66.5% | *** |
| % Ever parent | 82.9% | 79.7% | 85.7% | *** |
| No. of chronic conditions (1–7) | 1.02 | 0.85 | 1.16 | *** |
| SD | (1.3) | (1.2) | (1.3) | |
| Functional impairment (1 = not impaired, 4 = severely impaired) | 1.27 | 1.21 | 1.32 | *** |
| SD | (0.7) | (0.6) | (0.7) | |
| Self-rated health (1 = low, 5 = high) | 3.70 | 3.76 | 3.64 | * |
| SD | (1.1) | (1.1) | (1.1) | |
| Had serious illness in last 3 years? | 15.4% | 14.1% | 16.6% | |
| Ever have life threatening illness? | 27.0% | 30.8% | 23.6% | *** |
| Smoking | ||||
| Current smoker | 30.4% | 31.9% | 29.1% | *** |
| Never smoker | 42.1% | 32.8% | 50.4% | |
| Former smoker | 27.5% | 35.3% | 20.6% | |
| Alcohol use | ||||
| Nondrinker | 41.2% | 29.6% | 51.5% | *** |
| Moderate drinker | 46.9% | 52.5% | 41.8% | |
| Heavy drinker | 12.0% | 17.9% | 6.7% | |
| BMI | ||||
| Normal | 48.3% | 43.6% | 52.4% | *** |
| Overweight | 34.6% | 41.5% | 28.5% | |
| Obese | 14.8% | 14.0% | 15.6% | |
| Unweighted N | 3,617 | 1,358 | 2,259 | |
Note. Statistics are weighted unless otherwise specified. BMI categories do not sum to 100% because information was treated as missing for underweight respondents (BMI < 18.5, N = 89).
***p < .001. **p < .01. *p < .05.