Table 1.
Study variables at different ages by sex.
| Age 22 years |
Age 32 years |
Age 42 years |
Age 52 years |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women (n = 890)a |
Men (n = 766)a |
Women (n = 805)a |
Men (n = 666)a |
Women (n = 734)a |
Men (n = 600)a |
Women (n = 648)a |
Men (n = 512)a |
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| Variable | % (n) | % (n) | pb | % (n) | % (n) | pb | % (n) | % (n) | pb | % (n) | % (n) | pb | |||
| Relationship status | <0.001 | 0.090 | 0.003 | 0.095 | |||||||||||
| Married | 8.9 (79) | 3.4 (26) | 49.4 (397) | 46.5 (309) | 58.0 (426) | 60.2 (361) | 59.7 (387) | 61.7 (316) | |||||||
| Cohabiting | 29.8 (265) | 16.7 (128) | 27.6 (222) | 26.4 (175) | 16.9 (124) | 20.0 (120) | 14.4 (93) | 16.4 (84) | |||||||
| Dating | 32.5 (289) | 38.3 (293) | 7.3 (59) | 8.1 (54) | 8.6 (63) | 5.5 (33) | 7.4 (48) | 4.5 (23) | |||||||
| Single | 28.4 (253) | 41.5 (318) | 12.3 (99) | 16.9 (112) | 9.4 (69) | 11.0 (66) | 9.7 (63) | 11.1 (57) | |||||||
| Divorced/widowed | 0.4 (4) | 0.1 (1) | 3.2 (26) | 2.1 (14) | 7.1 (52) | 3.3 (20) | 8.8 (57) | 6.3 (32) | |||||||
| Depressive symptoms, mean (SD) | 1.9 (3.2) | 1.4 (2.8) | <0.001 | 2.2 (3.2) | 1.7 (3.4) | 0.010 | 2.4 (3.6) | 1.8 (3.5) | 0.003 | 3.1 (4.1) | 2.2 (3.6) | <0.001 | |||
| Self-esteem, mean (SD) | 3.6 (0.7) | 3.9 (0.7) | <0.001 | 3.9 (0.7) | 4.1 (0.7) | <0.001 | 3.9 (0.8) | 4.1 (0.7) | <0.001 | 3.9 (0.8) | 4.1 (0.7) | <0.001 | |||
| Relationship quality, mean (SD)c | 4.3 (0.7) | 4.3 (0.6) | 0.485 | 4.2 (0.8) | 4.2 (0.7) | 0.415 | 4.1 (0.8) | 4.2 (0.7) | 0.017 | 4.2 (0.8) | 4.2 (0.8) | 0.570 | |||
| High-school (yes) | 54.3 (483) | 43.6 (334) | <0.001 | 57.0 (458) | 44.2 (294) | <0.001 | 59.9 (437) | 44.4 (263) | <0.001 | 60.7 (392) | 49.0 (250) | <0.001 | |||
| Children (yes) | 9.1 (81) | 4.1 (31) | <0.001 | 62.0 (493) | 53.7 (351) | 0.001 | 77.4 (568) | 74.3 (446) | 0.194 | 81.1(514) | 80.4(405) | 0.761 | |||
| Duration of current relationship status, mean (SD)d | 2.8 (1.6) | 2.4 (1.3) | <0.001 | 5.7 (3.2) | 4.8 (2.9) | <0.001 | 11.2 (6.0) | 10.7 (5.6) | 0.127 | 17.4 (8.8) | 17.1 (8.4) | 0.579 | |||
| Dissolution of relationship in past 12 months (yes) | 23.5 (209) | 27.4 (209) | 0.075 | 10.6 (85) | 12.2 (81) | 0.332 | 10.0 (73) | 7.0 (42) | 0.055 | 4.8 (31) | 5.3 (27) | 0.696 | |||
a
Due to missing information number of valid cases vary between 886-890 (age 22), 795–804 (age 32), 729–734 (age 42), 634–648 (age 52) in women and between 761-766 (age 22), 654–665 (age 32), 592–600 (age 42), 504–512 (age 52) in men according to measure (excluding relationship quality).
b
Test of sex difference: Chi-square for categorical/dichotomous and t-test for continuous variables.
c
Among those married, cohabiting or dating; number with missing information vary between 2-4 in women and 0–3 in men at different ages.
d
For those single or divorced/widowed coded as mean; at age 22 duration of relationship.