Morale in Old Age and Its Association with Sociodemographic, Social, and Health-Related Factors in Different Age Groups

Table 4

Estimated joint effects of age and different sociodemographic, social, and health-related variables on morale (n = 6460).

Variable	Categories	66-year-olds	71-year-olds	76-year-olds	81-year-olds	86-year-olds
		Standardized estimate	Standardized estimate	Standardized estimate	Standardized estimate	Standardized estimate
Gender	Man^a
	Woman	−0.041	−0.025	−0.022	−0.041	−0.007
Educational level	Lower^a
	Higher	−0.008	−0.021	0.008	−0.003	0.011
Marital status	Single^a
	In a relationship	0.025	−0.009	−0.017	0.024	−0.009
Region	Västerbotten, Sweden^a
	Swedish-speakers in Ostrobothnia, Finland	−0.021	−0.013	0.009	−0.004	0.017
	Finnish-speakers in Ostrobothnia and Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland	−0.001	−0.002	0.013	−0.007	0.000
Place of residence	Urban^a
	Semiurban	−0.005	0.003	−0.004	0.002	−0.007
	Rural	−0.017	0.009	0.009	0.001	0.012
Born in the same place as you live now	No^a
	Yes	0.006	0.018	0.009	0.010	−0.002
Making ends meet	With difficulties^a
	Without difficulties	0.084	0.075	0.050	0.086	0.019
Contacts with children and grandchildren	Less frequent^a
	Frequent	0.023	0.029	0.007	0.016	0.027
Contacts with friends and neighbors	Less frequent^a
	Frequent	0.039	0.018	−0.001	−0.021	0.023
Trust in friends and neighbors	Low^a
	High	0.042	0.073	0.054	0.032	0.024
Number of confidants	0-1^a
	2 or more	0.025	0.023	0.008	0.015	0.003
Active membership in an association	None or passive^a
	1 or more	0.015	0.022	0.047	0.011	−0.002
Perceived loneliness	No^a
	Yes	−0.095	−0.075	−0.063	−0.061	−0.026
Gone through a crisis during the preceding year	No^a
	Yes	−0.096	−0.105	−0.063	−0.060	−0.033
Impaired vision	No^a
	Yes	−0.010	0.000	0.001	0.010	0.003
Impaired hearing	No^a
	Yes	−0.008	−0.004	−0.011	−0.009	−0.010
Stroke	No^a
	Yes	−0.019	−0.011	−0.014	−0.011	−0.014
Pain	No^a
	Yes	−0.043	−0.029	−0.027	−0.052	−0.021
Sleeping well	No^a
	Yes	0.151	0.119	0.124	0.124	0.039
Own teeth	No^a
	Yes	0.002	−0.021	−0.003	−0.010	−0.015
Independent in IADL	No^a
	Yes	0.072	0.052	0.036	0.017	0.019
Independent in PADL	No^a
	Yes	−0.032	−0.015	0.010	0.015	−0.022
Self-rated health	High^a
	Poor	−0.116	−0.108	−0.094	−0.078	−0.057
Depression	No^a
	Yes	−0.169	−0.178	−0.120	−0.114	−0.093

Note. Standardized betas are reported. Estimates for the joint effect of age group and each explanatory variable are presented row-wise in the table. Separate models were calculated for each joint effect, while adjusting for the main effects of all the other explanatory variables. The joint effects were estimated within the age groups, not between them. The estimates for each joint effect were calculated by switching the reference categories, meaning that the row-wise values reported are in relation to reference categories within each age group, i.e., 66-year-old men are, for example, the reference category to 66-year-old women. ^a Reference category. PGCMS: Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale; IADL: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; PADL: Personal Activities of Daily Living. , , and .