Table 4.

Top protective factors associated with depression, lack of mental well-being and anxiety^a

Protective Factors & coping behaviours	Depression						Anxiety						Lack of mental well-being
	TOTAL	women	men	16–44	45–64	65+	TOTAL	women	men	16–44	45–64	65+	TOTAL	women	men	16–44	45–64	65+
Following a routineb	0.58 (0.55 to 0.62)	0.60 (0.56 to 0.64)	0.52 (0.45 to 0.59)	0.59 (0.54 to 0.65)	0.56 (0.51 to 0.61)	0.70 (0.55 to 0.89)	0.80 (0.75 to 0.85)	0.82 (0.77 to 0.87)	0.73 (0.64 to 0.83)	0.79 (0.72 to 0.86)	0.82 (0.75 to 0.89)	0.79 (0.63 to 0.98)	0.58 (0.54 to 0.61)	0.54 (0.50 to 0.59)	0.63 (0.57 to 0.70)	0.52 (0.46 to 0.59)	0.57 (0.52 to 0.62)	0.70 (0.60 to 0.81)
High social support v low social support (3-point scale)	0.54 (0.50 to 0.59)	0.56 (0.51 to 0.61)	0.47 (0.38 to 0.57)	0.55 (0.49 to 0.62)	0.54 (0.47 to 0.60)	0.56 (0.40 to 0.80)	0.65 (0.60 to 0.71)	0.68 (0.62 to 0.74)	0.57 (0.48 to 0.69)	0.64 (0.57 to 0.72)	0.65 (0.58 to 0.73)	0.75 (0.55 to 1.03)	0.57 (0.52 to 0.62)	0.59 (0.53 to 0.65)	0.54 (0.46 to 0.62)	0.55 (0.47 to 0.64)	0.60 (0.54 to 0.68)	0.50 (0.41 to 0.62)
Dedicating time to oneselfb	0.60 (0.54 to 0.67)	0.61 (0.55 to 0.69)	0.57 (0.44 to 0.73)	0.68 (0.59 to 0.80)	0.54 (0.46 to 0.63)	0.52 (0.37 to 0.72)	0.69 (0.63 to 0.76)	0.71 (0.64 to 0.78)	0.62 (0.50 to 0.78)	0.68 (0.59 to 0.79)	0.65 (0.57 to 0.75)	0.80 (0.61 to 1.04)	0.58 (0.54 to 0.62)	0.57 (0.52 to 0.61)	0.61 (0.54 to 0.70)	0.58 (0.50 to 0.66)	0.57 (0.52 to 0.63)	0.57 (0.49 to 0.67)
Not eating more to cope with the situationc	0.63 (0.59 to 0.67)	0.63 (0.59 to 0.68)	0.61 (0.52 to 0.73)	0.66 (0.60 to 0.73)	0.61 (0.55 to 0.67)	0.63 (0.49 to 0.80)	0.88 (0.83 to 0.93)	0.88 (0.82 to 0.94)	0.89 (0.78 to 1.01)	0.89 (0.81 to 0.97)	0.88 (0.81 to 0.97)	0.80 (0.65 to 1.00)	0.78 (0.73 to 0.82)	0.77 (0.72 to 0.82)	0.80 (0.73 to 0.89)	0.80 (0.72 to 0.89)	0.76 (0.70 to 0.82)	0.82 (0.71 to 0.94)
Spending more time doing activities with the familyb	0.70 (0.65 to 0.76)	0.72 (0.67 to 0.78)	0.61 (0.53 to 0.71)	0.74 (0.66 to 0.81)	0.71 (0.63 to 0.79)	0.65 (0.47 to 0.90)	0.73 (0.68 to 0.78)	0.74 (0.69 to 0.80)	0.70 (0.60 to 0.82)	0.75 (0.68 to 0.82)	0.72 (0.65 to 0.80)	0.81 (0.63 to 1.06)	0.69 (0.65 to 0.73)	0.69 (0.64 to 0.74)	0.70 (0.63 to 0.78)	0.67 (0.60 to 0.75)	0.68 (0.63 to 0.74)	0.82 (0.70 to 0.95)
Undertaking relaxing activites (e.g. listening to music)b	0.78 (0.73 to 0.84)	0.76 (0.70 to 0.82)	0.88 (0.75 to 1.02)	0.82 (0.74 to 0.91)	0.74 (0.66 to 0.82)	0.71 (0.54 to 0.93)	0.72 (0.68 to 0.77)	0.72 (0.66 to 0.77)	0.74 (0.63 to 0.85)	0.73 (0.66 to 0.81)	0.73 (0.66 to 0.81)	0.63 (0.49 to 0.79)	0.71 (0.67 to 0.76)	0.70 (0.65 to 0.75)	0.75 (0.67 to 0.83)	0.68 (0.61 to 0.76)	0.71 (0.65 to 0.77)	0.74 (0.64 to 0.86)
Having children whose care takes half of the time or lessd	0.76 (0.70 to 0.83)	0.76 (0.70 to 0.84)	0.75 (0.62 to 0.91)	0.53 (0.46 to 0.61)	0.94 (0.84 to 1.05)	1.84 (0.84 to 4.04)	1.00 (0.93 to 1.09)	0.97 (0.89 to 1.06)	1.16 (0.98 to 1.37)	0.89 (0.78 to 1.02)	1.09 (0.98 to 1.20)	1.92 (0.92 to 3.99)	1.03 (0.95 to 1.11)	1.00 (0.91 to 1.09)	1.10 (0.96 to 1.25)	0.74 (0.64 to 0.86)	1.14 (1.05 to 1.25)	1.61 (0.89 to 2.88)

^aOdds ratios underlined in bold are those less than 0.67, with probability values for confidence intervals of less than 0.001; odds ratios in bold are those less than 0.80, with probability values for confidence intervals of less than 0.001; odds ratios that are not underlined or bold are not less than 0.80, or have a probability value of 0.001 or greater

^bAlmost every day (score 4 on a 4-point Likert scale from 1, not any day to 4, almost every day) versus not score 4

^cNot any day (score 1 on a 4-point Likert scale from 1, not any day to 4, almost every day) versus not score 1

^dPresent versus absent