Table 1.
Characteristics of Participants at Baseline by Tertiles of Life Satisfaction (N = 12,432)
| Life Satisfaction | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participant Characteristics | Tertile 1 (n = 4,424) | Tertile 2 (n = 4,131) | Tertile 3 (n = 3,877) | |||
| % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | |
| Sociodemographic Factors | ||||||
| Age (yr; range: 46‐99) | 65.3 (10.0) | 66.8 (9.8) | 67.2 (9.7) | |||
| Female | 59.3 | 57.7 | 59.7 | |||
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 70.9 | 77.8 | 80.9 | |||
| Black | 19.7 | 13.7 | 9.5 | |||
| Hispanic | 6.5 | 6.1 | 6.9 | |||
| Other | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.6 | |||
| Married | 58.8 | 67.3 | 74.7 | |||
| Annual household income | ||||||
| <$50,000 | 62.1 | 55.6 | 47.0 | |||
| $50,000‐$74,999 | 16.2 | 15.8 | 17.5 | |||
| $75,000‐$99,999 | 8.9 | 10.8 | 11.3 | |||
| ≥$100,000 | 12.9 | 17.8 | 24.2 | |||
| Total wealth | ||||||
| 1st quintile | 27.0 | 18.6 | 11.4 | |||
| 2nd quintile | 23.4 | 20.6 | 15.3 | |||
| 3rd quintile | 19.1 | 21.2 | 20.4 | |||
| 4th quintile | 17.7 | 20.2 | 23.3 | |||
| 5th quintile | 12.9 | 19.4 | 29.7 | |||
| Education | ||||||
| Less than high school diploma | 17.7 | 13.9 | 13.3 | |||
| High school diploma | 58.6 | 56.1 | 51.0 | |||
| College degree or higher | 23.8 | 30.0 | 35.7 | |||
| Employed | 42.0 | 43.4 | 41.3 | |||
| Health insurance | 93.7 | 96.2 | 96.6 | |||
| Geographic region | ||||||
| Northeast | 15.1 | 14.7 | 15.3 | |||
| Midwest | 26.4 | 27.6 | 28.4 | |||
| South | 39.5 | 39.6 | 37.1 | |||
| West | 19.0 | 18.2 | 19.2 | |||
| Childhood abuse | 9.6 | 6.3 | 4.7 | |||
| Physical Health | ||||||
| Diabetes | 21.4 | 17.2 | 13.0 | |||
| Hypertension | 56.6 | 54.1 | 49.3 | |||
| Stroke | 7.5 | 5.8 | 4.1 | |||
| Cancer | 13.5 | 14.0 | 13.4 | |||
| Heart disease | 23.0 | 21.2 | 16.4 | |||
| Lung disease | 11.0 | 7.3 | 4.7 | |||
| Arthritis | 62.4 | 58.8 | 51.5 | |||
| Overweight/obesity | 74.4 | 73.4 | 67.9 | |||
| Physical function limitations | 28.5 | 17.1 | 10.5 | |||
| Cognitive impairment | 16.4 | 13.0 | 11.1 | |||
| Chronic pain | 43.3 | 31.3 | 23.5 | |||
| Self‐rated health (range: 1‐5) | 2.9 (1.1) | 3.3 (1.0) | 3.7 (1.0) | |||
| Health Behaviors | ||||||
| Binge drinking | 12.5 | 14.2 | 14.0 | |||
| Smoking | 17.8 | 11.7 | 8.4 | |||
| Frequent physical activity | 69.5 | 78.1 | 82.9 | |||
| Sleep problems | 48.6 | 39.3 | 34.5 | |||
| Religious Service Attendance | ||||||
| Never | 27.0 | 24.2 | 20.7 | |||
| Less than once per week | 34.0 | 32.6 | 30.6 | |||
| One or more times per week | 39.0 | 43.2 | 48 | |||
| Psychological Well‐being | ||||||
| Positive affect (range: 1‐5) | 3.3 (0.8) | 3.6 (0.6) | 4.0 (0.6) | |||
| Life satisfaction (range: 1‐7) | 4.2 (1.5) | 5.2 (1.2) | 6.0 (1.1) | |||
| Optimism (range: 1‐6) | 4.1 (1.0) | 4.5 (0.9) | 4.9 (0.9) | |||
| Purpose in life (range: 1‐6) | 4.4 (0.9) | 4.7 (0.9) | 5.0 (0.8) | |||
| Mastery (range: 1‐6) | 4.5 (1.1) | 4.8 (1.0) | 5.2 (1.0) | |||
| Health mastery (range: 1‐10) | 6.8 (2.5) | 7.4 (2.1) | 8.1 (1.9) | |||
| Financial mastery (range: 1‐10) | 6.6 (2.8) | 7.5 (2.4) | 8.2 (2.0) | |||
| Psychological Distress | ||||||
| Depression | 21.1 | 9.8 | 4.5 | |||
| Depressive symptoms (range: 0‐8) | 1.9 (2.2) | 1.1 (1.7) | 0.7 (1.3) | |||
| Hopelessness (range: 1‐6) | 2.7 (1.3) | 2.2 (1.2) | 1.8 (1.0) | |||
| Negative affect (range: 1‐5) | 1.9 (0.7) | 1.6 (0.5) | 1.4 (0.5) | |||
| Perceived constraints (range: 1‐6) | 2.5 (1.2) | 2.1 (1.1) | 1.7 (1.0) | |||
| Social Factors | ||||||
| Loneliness (range: 1‐3) | 1.7 (0.6) | 1.4 (0.5) | 1.3 (0.4) | |||
| Living with spouse/partner | 62.6 | 71.0 | 78.2 | |||
| Contact with children <1x/week | 28.5 | 24.7 | 21.0 | |||
| Contact with other family <1x/week | 48.9 | 47.2 | 47.8 | |||
| Contact with friends <1x/week | 36.7 | 34.5 | 30.0 | |||
| Personality | ||||||
| Openness (range: 1‐4) | 2.9 (0.6) | 3.0 (0.5) | 3.1 (0.5) | |||
| Conscientiousness (range: 1‐4) | 3.3 (0.5) | 3.4 (0.4) | 3.5 (0.4) | |||
| Extraversion (range: 1‐4) | 3.1 (0.6) | 3.2 (0.5) | 3.4 (0.5) | |||
| Agreeableness (range: 1‐4) | 3.5 (0.5) | 3.5 (0.5) | 3.6 (0.4) | |||
| Neuroticism (range: 1‐4) | 2.2 (0.6) | 2.0 (0.6) | 1.9 (0.6) | |||
This table was created based on nonimputed data and means are unadjusted for any covariates.
All variables in Table 1were used as covariates and assessed in the pre‐baseline wave (t0;2006/2008).