1. Study Sample

Table 1 presents the total number of participants included in the study (2420), with 50.2% male and 49.8% female, indicating an almost equal gender distribution. The mean age of participants is 50.4 years, with a standard deviation of 19.0. Additionally, Table 1 includes a description of key variables categorized into three groups: education level, income, smoking behavior, and alcohol consumption frequency. Missing responses are reported for each variable group.

Table 1: Demographic and Behavioral characteristics of Participants: Gender, Age, Education, Smoking and Alcohol Consumption
Variable Category n (Total=2420) %(Total=100)
Gender Male 1214 50.2
Female 1206 49.8
Age (Mean ± SD) 50.4±19
Education Level Less than Secondary Education 42 1.7
Upper Secondary Education 1755 72.5
Tertiary Education and Beyond 609 25.2
NA 14 0.6
Income group Low income 470 19.4
Middle income 878 36.3
High income 821 33.9
NA 251 10.4
Smoking behavior Current smokers 558 23.1
Ex-smokers 869 35.9
Never smoked 991 41
NA 2 0.1
Alcohol Consumption Frequent drinkers 1124 46.4
Occasional drinkers 555 22.9
Rare/Never drinkers 736 30.4
NA 5 0.2
Data Source: European Social Survey (ESS), Round 11

2. Depression and Gender

Figure 1 shows the distribution of the average values for depressive symptoms on an 8-point scale, separated by gender, in order to illustrate possible gender-specific differences in the severity of depression. Men (n = 1214) show an average depressive symptom score of 1.65 (Median = 1.50, SD = 0.45) while women (n = 1206) show 1.74 (Median = 1.62, SD = 0.48). The distributions are similar, with a slight tendency towards higher values for women. Overall, the results indicate that there are only minor gender-specific differences in the average severity of depressive symptoms.