Table 3.

First-differences regression models of life satisfaction on age

	Linear models		Quadratic models
	No controls	With controls	No controls	With controls
Difference in age (years after 65)	−0.01249***	−0.00843	−0.00014	0.00092
	0.00193	0.00521	0.00402	0.00643
Difference in age-squared			−0.00060***	−0.00045**
			0.00015	0.00018
Transitions in work status (ref: not work to not work)
Not work to work		0.047		0.039
		0.035		0.035
Work to not work		−0.029		−0.036
		0.021		0.022
Work to work		0.020*		0.013
		0.011		0.012
Transitions in marital status (ref: married to married)
Married to widowed		−0.191***		−0.185***
		0.035		0.035
Married to divorced		−0.122		−0.125
		0.106		0.106
Single to married		0.279***		0.277***
		0.078		0.078
Single to single		0.040***		0.046***
		0.008		0.009
Transitions in self-rated health (ref: Very good/excellent to very good/excellent)
Fair/poor to fair/poor		−0.055***		−0.057***
		0.017		0.017
Fair/poor to good		0.181***		0.181***
		0.027		0.027
Poor to very good/excellent		0.216***		0.218***
		0.052		0.052
Good to fair/poor		−0.222***		−0.221***
		0.024		0.024
Good to good		0.000		0.001
		0.012		0.012
Good to very good/excellent		0.062***		0.064***
		0.020		0.020
Very good/excellent to fair/poor		−0.273***		−0.271***
		0.042		0.042
Very good/excellent to good		−0.095***		−0.093***
		0.018		0.018
Transitions in #ADLs (ref: 0 to 0)
0 to 1 ADLs		−0.077***		−0.074***
		0.026		0.026
0 to 2+ ADLs		−0.134***		−0.129***
		0.040		0.040
1 to 0 ADL		0.045		0.048
		0.030		0.030
1 to 1 ADLs		0.000		0.003
		0.034		0.034
1 to 2+ ADLs		−0.069		−0.065
		0.049		0.049
2+ to 0 ADL		0.128**		0.129**
		0.064		0.064
2+ to 1 ADLs		0.045		0.048
		0.060		0.060
2+ to 2+ ADLs		−0.008		−0.006
		0.033		0.033
Transitions in # IADLs (ref: 0 to 0)
0 to 1 IADLs		−0.027		−0.022
		0.027		0.027
0 to 2+ IADLs		−0.147***		−0.140***
		0.044		0.044
1 to 0 IADL		0.083**		0.086**
		0.036		0.036
1 to 1 IADLs		0.010		0.015
		0.037		0.038
1 to 2+ IADLs		0.125**		0.133***
		0.051		0.051
2+ to 0 IADL		0.231***		0.233***
		0.076		0.076
2+ to 1 IADLs		0.041		0.046
		0.061		0.061
2+ to 2+ IADLs		0.003		0.011
		0.034		0.034
Transitions in cognitive ability (ref: high to high)
Low to low		0.048***		0.045***
		0.015		0.015
Low to medium		0.012		0.010
		0.023		0.023
Low to high		0.007		0.005
		0.037		0.037
Medium to low		−0.014		−0.015
		0.020		0.020
Medium to medium		0.002		0.002
		0.014		0.014
Medium to high		0.008		0.006
		0.018		0.018
High to low		−0.002		−0.004
		0.029		0.029
High to medium		−0.030*		−0.031*
		0.018		0.018
Transitions in pain (ref: no pain to no pain)
No to mild		−0.019		−0.020
		0.024		0.024
No to moderate/severe		0.008		0.007
		0.021		0.021
Mild to no		0.006		0.005
		0.026		0.026
Mild to mild		0.054*		0.051*
		0.029		0.029
Mild to moderate/severe		−0.054*		−0.057*
		0.029		0.029
Moderate/severe to no		0.019		0.018
		0.025		0.025
Moderate/severe to mild		0.005		0.003
		0.031		0.031
Moderate/severe to moderate/severe		−0.004		−0.008
		0.015		0.015
Observations	32245	32245	32245	32245
R-squared	0.001	0.024	0.001	0.024

^***p<0.01

^**p<0.05

^*p<0.1.

Standard errors adjusted for clustering at person-level. Sample: HRS, 2008–2016, age 65+, observations with non-missing life satisfaction reports in two consecutive survey waves. The left-hand side variable is wave-to-wave differences in life satisfaction. The main explanatory variable is difference in age, a_i,t+1 − a_i,t.