Distribution of characteristics for women (n=10 183) with weak and strong SOC who completed the HLEQ questionnaire in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort
| Characteristic | Weak SOC | Strong SOC | ||
| Number with characteristic | Percentage and number with past-year GAD | Number with characteristic | Percentage and number with past-year GAD | |
| Sociodemographics | ||||
| Age (years) | ||||
| <65 | 1995 | 6.8 (136) | 4732 | 1.6 (78) |
| ≥65 | 996 | 2.7 (27) | 2460 | 0.8 (19) |
| Education* | ||||
| Low | 1358 | 4.6 (62) | 2619 | 0.8 (21) |
| High | 1633 | 6.2 (101) | 4573 | 1.7 (76) |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married | 2060 | 5.5 (113) | 5590 | 1.2 (69) |
| Not married† | 931 | 5.4 (50) | 1602 | 1.7 (28) |
| Social class‡ | ||||
| Manual | 1261 | 4.9 (62) | 2508 | 1.1 (27) |
| Non-manual | 1730 | 5.8 (101) | 4684 | 1.5 (70) |
| Employed | ||||
| Yes | 1178 | 5.6 (66) | 2852 | 1.4 (40) |
| No | 1813 | 5.4 (97) | 4340 | 1.3 (57) |
| Townsend Index | ||||
| Deprivation | ||||
| Yes (>0) | 534 | 8.4 (45) | 1083 | 1.8 (19) |
| No (≤0) | 2457 | 4.8 (118) | 6109 | 1.3 (78) |
| Health status | ||||
| Prevalent physical disease | ||||
| Yes§ | 1683 | 6.1 (103) | 3922 | 1.8 (70) |
| No | 1308 | 4.6 (60) | 3270 | 0.8 (27) |
| Disability level | ||||
| High¶ | 1717 | 6.2 (107) | 3493 | 1.8 (64) |
| Low | 1274 | 4.4 (56) | 3699 | 0.9 (33) |
| Lifetime MDD | ||||
| Yes | 737 | 13.8 (102) | 1180 | 5.4 (64) |
| No | 2254 | 2.7 (61) | 6012 | 0.5 (33) |
*High education: O-level, A-level, degree; low education: refers to no education.
†Single, divorced, separated, widowed.
‡Manual: skilled manual, semi-skilled, non-skilled; non-manual: professionals, managerial, skilled non-manual.
§Prevalent physical disease: respiratory disease (asthma and bronchitis), allergies (allergies and hay fever), stroke, heart attack, cancer, diabetes, thyroid conditions, arthritis.
¶Below the median PCS value of 50.6.
GAD, generalised anxiety disorder; HLEQ, Health and Life Experiences Questionnaire; MDD, major depressive disorder; PCS, physical component summary score; SOC, sense of coherence.