Table 1.
Characteristics of Participants at Baseline by Quartiles of Sense of Purpose in Life (N = 9,977).a,b,c
| Participant characteristics | Purpose in life | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quartile 1 (N = 2,706) | Quartile 2 (N = 2,443) | Quartile 3 (N = 2,723) | Quartile 4 (N = 2,105) | |||||||||||||
| n | % | M | SD | n | % | M | SD | n | % | M | SD | n | % | M | SD | |
| Sociodemographic Factors | ||||||||||||||||
| Age (yr; range: 46-96) | 68.0 | 9.7 | 67.4 | 9.2 | 66.8 | 8.9 | 65.8 | 8.7 | ||||||||
| Female (%) | 1617 | 59.8 | 1465 | 60.0 | 1611 | 59.2 | 1264 | 60.1 | ||||||||
| Race/Ethnicity (%) | ||||||||||||||||
| White | 2091 | 77.3 | 1969 | 80.6 | 2236 | 82.2 | 1626 | 77.2 | ||||||||
| Black | 280 | 10.4 | 262 | 10.7 | 270 | 9.9 | 298 | 14.2 | ||||||||
| Hispanic | 262 | 9.7 | 163 | 6.7 | 170 | 6.3 | 135 | 6.4 | ||||||||
| Other | 73 | 2.7 | 49 | 2.0 | 46 | 1.7 | 46 | 2.2 | ||||||||
| Married (%) | 1642 | 60.7 | 1614 | 66.1 | 1926 | 70.7 | 1518 | 72.2 | ||||||||
| Income (%) | ||||||||||||||||
| <$50,000 | 1847 | 68.3 | 1419 | 58.1 | 1344 | 49.4 | 955 | 45.4 | ||||||||
| $50,000-$74,999 | 395 | 14.6 | 396 | 16.2 | 522 | 19.2 | 339 | 16.1 | ||||||||
| $75,000-$99,999 | 200 | 7.4 | 227 | 9.3 | 312 | 11.5 | 256 | 12.2 | ||||||||
| ≥$100,000 | 264 | 9.8 | 401 | 16.4 | 545 | 20.0 | 555 | 26.4 | ||||||||
| Total Wealth (%) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1st Quintile | 737 | 27.2 | 485 | 19.9 | 423 | 15.5 | 281 | 13.4 | ||||||||
| 2nd Quintile | 629 | 23.2 | 502 | 20.6 | 494 | 18.1 | 367 | 17.4 | ||||||||
| 3 rd Quintile | 525 | 19.4 | 496 | 20.3 | 552 | 20.3 | 415 | 19.7 | ||||||||
| 4th Quintile | 441 | 16.3 | 479 | 19.6 | 622 | 22.8 | 494 | 23.5 | ||||||||
| 5th Quintile | 374 | 13.8 | 481 | 19.7 | 632 | 23.2 | 548 | 26.0 | ||||||||
| Education (%) | ||||||||||||||||
| < High School | 640 | 23.7 | 380 | 15.6 | 326 | 12.0 | 228 | 10.9 | ||||||||
| High School | 1549 | 57.3 | 1407 | 57.7 | 1513 | 55.8 | 1127 | 53.7 | ||||||||
| ≥ College | 513 | 19.0 | 651 | 26.7 | 873 | 32.2 | 742 | 35.4 | ||||||||
| Employed (%) | 872 | 32.3 | 968 | 39.6 | 1192 | 43.8 | 1064 | 50.6 | ||||||||
| Health insurance (%) | 2552 | 94.4 | 2336 | 95.6 | 2609 | 95.8 | 2012 | 95.6 | ||||||||
| Geographic region (%) | ||||||||||||||||
| Northeast | 444 | 16.4 | 335 | 13.7 | 374 | 13.7 | 297 | 14.1 | ||||||||
| Midwest | 747 | 27.6 | 721 | 29.6 | 732 | 26.9 | 565 | 26.8 | ||||||||
| South | 1020 | 37.7 | 914 | 37.5 | 1083 | 39.8 | 836 | 39.7 | ||||||||
| West | 495 | 18.3 | 470 | 19.3 | 532 | 19.6 | 407 | 19.3 | ||||||||
| Childhood abuse (%) | 218 | 8.1 | 181 | 7.5 | 155 | 5.7 | 125 | 6.0 | ||||||||
| Physical Health | ||||||||||||||||
| Diabetes (%) | 631 | 23.4 | 437 | 17.9 | 411 | 15.1 | 273 | 13.0 | ||||||||
| Hypertension (%) | 1592 | 58.9 | 1328 | 54.4 | 1387 | 51.0 | 1034 | 49.1 | ||||||||
| Stroke (%) | 211 | 7.8 | 139 | 5.7 | 137 | 5.0 | 88 | 4.2 | ||||||||
| Cancer (%) | 379 | 14.1 | 332 | 13.6 | 383 | 14.1 | 264 | 12.6 | ||||||||
| Heart Disease (%) | 665 | 24.6 | 496 | 20.3 | 527 | 19.4 | 339 | 16.1 | ||||||||
| Lung Disease (%) | 279 | 10.3 | 215 | 8.8 | 182 | 6.7 | 96 | 4.6 | ||||||||
| Arthritis (%) | 1737 | 64.2 | 1417 | 58.0 | 1511 | 55.6 | 1101 | 52.4 | ||||||||
| Overweight/Obesity (%) | 2008 | 75.2 | 1722 | 71.2 | 1929 | 71.6 | 1469 | 70.6 | ||||||||
| Physical limitations (%) | 808 | 29.9 | 487 | 19.9 | 371 | 13.6 | 236 | 11.2 | ||||||||
| Cognitive impairment (%) | 554 | 20.7 | 316 | 13.0 | 275 | 10.2 | 190 | 9.1 | ||||||||
| Chronic pain (%) | 1136 | 42.0 | 826 | 33.8 | 834 | 30.6 | 527 | 25.0 | ||||||||
| Self-rated health (range: 1-5) | 2.9 | 1.0 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 0.9 | ||||||||
| Health Behaviors | ||||||||||||||||
| Heavy drinking (%) | 174 | 7.9 | 141 | 7.2 | 165 | 7.5 | 126 | 7.4 | ||||||||
| Smoking (%) | 400 | 14.9 | 325 | 13.4 | 278 | 10.3 | 194 | 9.3 | ||||||||
| Frequent physical activity (%) | 1780 | 65.9 | 1858 | 76.1 | 2210 | 81.2 | 1802 | 85.6 | ||||||||
| Sleep problems (%) | 780 | 50.4 | 562 | 41.0 | 539 | 37.0 | 325 | 32.3 | ||||||||
| Religious service attendance (%) | ||||||||||||||||
| Never | 768 | 28.4 | 569 | 23.3 | 600 | 22.1 | 423 | 20.1 | ||||||||
| <1x/week | 891 | 33.0 | 838 | 34.3 | 807 | 29.7 | 655 | 31.1 | ||||||||
| ≥1x/week | 1045 | 38.7 | 1034 | 42.4 | 1314 | 48.3 | 1027 | 48.8 | ||||||||
| Psychological Well-Being | ||||||||||||||||
| Positive affect (range: 1-5) | 3.1 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 4.1 | 0.6 | ||||||||
| Life satisfaction (range: 1-7) | 4.4 | 1.5 | 5.1 | 1.3 | 5.4 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 1.3 | ||||||||
| Optimism (range: 1-6) | 3.9 | 0.9 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 4.8 | 0.9 | 5.1 | 0.8 | ||||||||
| Purpose in life (range: 1-6) | 3.5 | 0.5 | 4.4 | 0.2 | 5.1 | 0.2 | 5.8 | 0.2 | ||||||||
| Mastery (range: 1-6) | 4.3 | 1.1 | 4.7 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 1.0 | 5.3 | 0.9 | ||||||||
| Health mastery (range: 1-10) | 6.5 | 2.5 | 7.3 | 2.2 | 7.8 | 1.9 | 8.3 | 1.8 | ||||||||
| Financial mastery (range: 1-10) | 6.6 | 2.9 | 7.2 | 2.5 | 7.8 | 2.2 | 8.2 | 2.1 | ||||||||
| Psychological Distress | ||||||||||||||||
| Depression (%) | 676 | 25.0 | 279 | 11.4 | 202 | 7.4 | 106 | 5.0 | ||||||||
| Depressive symptoms (range: 0-8) | 2.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 1.2 | ||||||||
| Hopelessness (range: 1-6) | 3.2 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.8 | ||||||||
| Negative affect (range: 1-5) | 2.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.4 | ||||||||
| Perceived constraints (range: 1-6) | 2.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.8 | ||||||||
| Social Factors | ||||||||||||||||
| Loneliness (range: 1-3) | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.4 | ||||||||
| Not living with spouse/partner (%) | 959 | 36.6 | 720 | 30.1 | 681 | 25.6 | 508 | 24.6 | ||||||||
| Contact children <1x/week (%) | 742 | 28.1 | 578 | 24.2 | 620 | 23.3 | 471 | 22.8 | ||||||||
| Contact other family <1x/week (%) | 1325 | 50.0 | 1145 | 47.7 | 1304 | 48.6 | 933 | 44.9 | ||||||||
| Contact friends <1x/week (%) | 1151 | 43.1 | 830 | 34.4 | 873 | 32.3 | 516 | 24.8 | ||||||||
| Personality | ||||||||||||||||
| Openness (range: 1-4) | 2.7 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 0.5 | ||||||||
| Conscientiousness (range: 1-4) | 3.1 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 0.3 | ||||||||
| Extroversion (range: 1-4) | 2.9 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 0.4 | ||||||||
| Agreeableness (range: 1-4) | 3.3 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 0.4 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 3.7 | 0.4 | ||||||||
| Neuroticism (range: 1-4) | 2.3 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0.5 | ||||||||
a This table was created based on non-imputed data. This is why Table 1‘s sample size is smaller than the multiply imputed estimates in the other tables.
b All of these variables were used as covariates, and assessed in the pre-baseline wave (t0; 2006/2008).
c The percentages in some sections may not add up to 100% due to rounding.