Life satisfaction, anxiety, depression and resilience across the life span of men

Figures & data

Table I.  Study participants (N = 2144).

	N	%
Age (years)
Mean	50.05
	(SD 16.94; Range 18–92)
18–30 years	346	16.14
31–40 years	328	15.30
41–50 years	398	18.56
51–60 years	380	17.72
61–70 years	442	20.62
>70 years	250	11.66
Marital status
Married (living together)	1265	59.00
Married (separated)	25	1.17
Single	561	26.17
Divorced	173	8.07
Widowed	120	5.60
Partnership
Yes	1411	65.81
No	733	34.19
Education
Less than 10th grade	1013	47.25
Completed 10th grade	774	36.10
Completed high school	174	8.12
College or university degree	183	8.54
Employment
Full-time	1078	50.28
Pension	746	34.79
Unemployed	143	6.67
Schooling	124	5.79
Part-time	41	1.91
Other	12	0.56
West	1694	79.01
East	450	20.99

Table II.  Importance of and satisfaction with domains of life satisfaction across the life span (N = 2144 men).

	(A) 18–30 years	(B) 31–40 years	(C) 41–50 years	(D) 51–60 years	(E) 61–70 years	(F) >70 years	p-value
Importance^1
1 Health^3	4.34(0.80)	4.44(0.68)	4.46(0.69)	4.53(0.65)	4.66(0.56)	4.62(0.62)	<0.001
2 Income^4	4.19(0.80)	4.23(0.73)	4.23(0.69)	4.20(0.73)	4.11(0.69)	4.02(0.70)	0.001
3 Family life^5	3.54(1.19)	3.98(1.10)	4.07(1.06)	3.90(1.11)	4.05(0.90)	4.06(0.82)	<0.001
4 Living conditions^6	3.76(0.91)	3.92(0.82)	3.89(0.77)	3.93(0.77)	3.95(0.73)	3.94(0.71)	0.017
5 Partnership^7	4.05(0.96)	4.09(0.90)	4.01(0.98)	3.89(0.99)	3.63(1.10)	3.34(1.13)	<0.001
6 Work^8	4.19(0.83)	4.25(0.80)	4.26(0.74)	4.02(1.02)	3.16(1.35)	2.98(1.40)	<0.001
7 Friends^9	4.06(0.80)	3.79(0.85)	3.66(0.83)	3.64(0.84)	3.41(0.84)	3.48(0.84)	<0.001
8 Leisure^10	3.87(0.88)	3.67(0.87)	3.48(0.87)	3.43(0.84)	3.38(0.87)	3.29(0.96)	<0.001
Satisfaction^2
1 Living conditions^11	3.79(0.88)	3.90(0.86)	3.96(0.83)	4.02(0.83)	4.06(0.77)	4.07(0.77)	<0.001
2 Friends^12	4.01(0.79)	4.00(0.79)	3.84(0.82)	3.84(0.78)	3.84(0.77)	3.75(0.78)	<0.001
3 Family life^13	3.59(1.02)	3.87(1.04)	3.95(0.95)	3.89(1.05)	3.96(0.89)	3.97(0.82)	<0.001
4 Health^14	4.29(0.83)	4.09(0.85)	3.86(0.84)	3.59(0.94)	3.54(0.91)	3.43(0.96)	<0.001
5 Leisure^15	3.87(0.86)	3.77(0.84)	3.68(0.81)	3.74(0.80)	3.84(0.77)	3.67(0.90)	0.004
6 Partnership^16	3.69(1.10)	3.89(1.09)	3.80(1.05)	3.72(1.11)	3.64(1.04)	3.32(1.05)	<0.001
7 Work^17	3.42(1.17)	3.64(1.12)	3.44(1.12)	3.40(1.21)	3.50(1.01)	3.35(1.14)	0.023
8 Income^18	3.14(1.11)	3.46(1.07)	3.38(1.05)	3.30(1.08)	3.56(0.86)	3.62(0.87)	<0.001

Presented are means (SDs in parentheses). ¹Sorted by average rank of importance; ²Sorted by average rank of satisfaction. One way ANOVA (Scheffé-tests with p < 0.05 in parentheses for the six age groups): ³F(5/2134) = 11.44 (D,E,F > A; E > A,B,C); ⁴F(5/2136) = 4.02 (F < B,C); ⁵F(5/2133) = 13.19 (B,C,D,E,F > A); ⁶F(5/2136) = 2.77 (Scheffé-tests n.s.); ⁷F(5/2134) = 25.47 (A,B,C,D,E > F); ⁸F(5/2114) = 102.58 (A,B,C,D > E,F); ⁹F(5/2136) = 27.85 (A > B; B > C; D > E,F; C,D > E; A,B > E,F); ¹⁰F(5/2136) = 19.64 (A > C; A,B > D,E,F); ¹¹F(5/2135) = 5.78 (D,E,F > A); ¹²F(5/2135) = 5.52 (A,B > F); ¹³F(5/2131) = 7.68 (B,C,D,E,F > A); ¹⁴F(5/2134) = 48.93 (A,B > C > D,E,F); ¹⁵F(5/2134) = 3.45 (Scheffé-tests n.s.); ¹⁶F(5/2127) = 9.18 (A,B,C,D,E > F); ¹⁷F(5/2072) = 2.61 (Scheffé-tests n.s.); ¹⁸F(5/2132) = 10.38 (B,E,F > A; E,F > D).

Figure 1.  Importance of and satisfaction with health for German men in different age cohorts (N = 2144). Presented are means and SDs. ANOVA (Scheffé-tests with p < 0.05 in parentheses for the six age groups). (1) Importance F(5/2134) = 11.44; p < 0.001 (D,E,F > A; E > A,B,C); (2) Satisfaction F(5/2134) = 48.93; p < 0.001 (A,B > C > D,E,F).

Figure 2.  Importance of and satisfaction with partnership and sexuality for German men in different age cohorts (N = 2144). Presented are means and SDs. ANOVA (Scheffé tests with p < 0.05 in parentheses for the six age groups): (1) Importance F(5/2134) = 25.47 (A,B,C,D,E > F); (2) Satisfaction F(5/2127) = 9.18; p < 0.001 (A,B,C,D,E > F).

Figure 3.  Anxiety of German men in different age cohorts (N = 2144). Presented are means, SDs (top) and proportions of cases (bottom). ANOVA (Scheffé-tests with p < 0.05 in parentheses for the six age groups). F(5/2136) = 3.31; p < 0.01 (D > B). *Cut-off: anxiety ≥10.

Table III.  Depression, resilience and self-esteem across the life span (N = 2144 men).

	Mean	SD	N	Cases %^4
Depression^1
(A) 18–30 years	0.82	1.12	346	8.96
(B) 31–40 years	0.76	1.10	326	6.13
(C) 41–50 years	0.96	1.29	397	10.58
(D) 51–60 years	0.94	1.15	376	7.71
(E) 61–70 years	0.79	1.13	436	7.11
(F) >70 years	0.98	1.24	248	9.27
Resilience^2
(A) 18–30 years	61.84	10.03	346
(B) 31–40 years	62.08	9.18	328
(C) 41–50 years	61.14	9.81	398
(D) 51–60 years	59.10	10.50	379
(E) 61–70 years	59.83	9.85	440
(F) >70 years	54.60	10.68	247
Self-esteem^3
(A) 18–30 years	4.90	0.79	346
(B) 31–40 years	5.02	0.77	327
(C) 41–50 years	4.91	0.82	397
(D) 51–60 years	4.80	0.89	380
(E) 61–70 years	4.98	0.80	439
(F) >70 years	4.84	0.78	249

¹One way ANOVA F(5/2123) = 2.34; p < 0.05; Scheffé-Test n.s.

²One way ANOVA F(5/2123) = 21.30; p < 0.001; Scheffé-test A, B > D; A–E > F.

³One way ANOVA F(5/2133) = 3.54; p < .01; Scheffé-test B > D.

⁴Cut-off: depression ≥3.

Table IV.  Determinants of general life satisfaction, depression, anxiety and resilience.

Step		β	p-value	Change in R^2
Predictors of general life satisfaction (FLZ)
1	Self-esteem	0.13	<0.001	0.185
2	Household income^1	0.13	<0.001	0.076
3	Generalized anxiety	−0.12	<0.001	0.036
4	Previous unemployment^2	−0.18	<0.001	0.027
5	Resilience	0.19	<0.001	0.025
6	Partnership^3	−0.18	<0.001	0.020
7	West/ East^4	−0.09	<0.001	0.007
8	Depression	−0.10	<0.001	0.005
9	Age	−0.05	0.008	0.002
	Regression model:	adj. R^2 = 0.38, F = 138.57	Df (Regr/Res) = 9/2007; p < 0.001
Predictors of depression (PHQ-2)
1	Self-esteem	−0.43	<0.001	0.248
2	West/East^4	0.08	<0.001	0.009
3	Previous unemployment^1	0.08	<0.001	0.007
4	Resilience	−0.07	0.001	0.004
5	Household income^1	−0.04	0.036	0.002
	Regression model:	adj. R^2 = 0.27; F = 148.50	Df (Regr/Res) = 5/2014; p(F) < 0.001
Predictors of anxiety (GAD-7)
1	Self-esteem	−0.42	<0.001	0.196
2	Previous unemployment^2	0.12	<0.001	0.016
3	Religious affiliation^5	−0.06	0.002	0.004
	Regression model:	adj. R^2 = 0.22; F = 186.40	Df (Regr/Res) = 3/2023; p(F) < 0.001
Predictors of resilience
1	Household income^1	0.17	<0.001	0.046
2	Age	−0.20	<0.001	0.027
3	Previous unemployment^2	−0.10	<0.001	0.008
4	Partnership	−0.07	0.001	0.005
5	West/ East^4	0.06	0.004	0.004
6	Urban/ rural^6	−0.05	0.014	0.003
	Regression model:	adj. R^2 = 0.09; F = 34.27	Df (Regr/Res) = 6/2027; p(F) < 0.001

¹1 = <1250€; 2 = <2500€; 3 = >2500€

²(1 = no 2 = yes, once, 3 = yes, more than once)

³1 = with, 2 = without partner

⁴1 = West, 2 = East

⁵0 = no; 1 = yes

⁶0 = urban; 1 = rural.