Research Article

Positive Mental Attitude Associated with Lower 35-Year Mortality: The Leisure World Cohort Study

Table 1

Attitude questions from the Zung self-rated depression scale in the Leisure World Cohort Study, 1980s, .

Attitude statementNo responseNone or a little of the time (1)Some of the time (2)A good part of the time (3)Most or all of the time (4)
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

My mind is as clear as it used to be104 (0.8%)233 (1.7%)823 (6.0%)3139 (23%)9375 (69%)
I find it easy to do the things I used to do156 (1.1%)969 (7.1%)3080 (23%)5214 (38%)4255 (31%)
I feel hopeful about the future263 (1.9%)530 (3.9%)1438 (11%)3170 (23%)8273 (61%)
I find it easy to make decisions124 (0.9%)444 (3.2%)1596 (12%)4198 (31%)7312 (53%)
I feel that I am useful and needed178 (1.3%)594 (4.3%)1573 (12%)2895 (21%)8434 (62%)
My life is pretty full157 (1.1%)540 (3.9%)1321 (9.7%)3286 (24%)8370 (61%)
I still enjoy the things I used to120 (0.9%)514 (3.8%)1662 (12%)3374 (25%)8004 (59%)
Quarters of total attitude (sum of scores for the above seven items)Q1 7–20Q2 21–24Q3 25–26Q4 27–28

All persons: those with no response on any of the seven items included in no response category657 (4.8%)2646 (19%)3421 (25%)2757 (20%)4193 (31%)
All persons: if no response on any item that response recoded as 1 = “none or a little of the time”3057 (22%)3633 (27%)2791 (20%)4193 (31%)
All persons: if no response on any item that response recoded as 4 = “most or all of the time”2789 (20%)3617 (26%)2917 (21%)4357 (32%)