Table 3 Determinants of loneliness, social exclusion and number of important people in regular contact. Results of multiple linear regression analysis (German Ageing Survey, fifth wave)

Gender: Female (Ref.: male)

−0.0106

−0.122***

0.466***

(0.0147)

(0.0136)

(0.0674)

[−0.00901]

[−0.113]

[0.0866]

Age in years

−0.00380***

−0.00665***

−0.0241***

(0.000701)

(0.000653)

(0.00313)

[−0.0721]

[−0.137]

[−0.100]

Marital status: other marital statuses (Ref.: married and living together with spouse)

0.0728***

0.114***

−0.635***

(0.0159)

(0.0145)

(0.0688)

[0.0569]

[0.0964]

[−0.108]

Monthly net equivalent income in Euro

−4.59e-05***

−2.33e-05***

0.000148***

(5.51e-06)

(4.80e-06)

(2.34e-05)

[−0.109]

[−0.0602]

[0.0767]

Body-Mass-Index (BMI)

−0.00311+

−0.00428**

0.00537

(0.00165)

(0.00145)

(0.00703)

[−0.0242]

[−0.0362]

[0.00916]

Smoking status: yes, sometimes (Ref.: daily)

−0.0768*

−0.0758*

0.239

(0.0355)

(0.0377)

(0.184)

[−0.0256]

[−0.0274]

[0.0174]

 not anymore

−0.0177

−0.00926

0.152

(0.0235)

(0.0213)

(0.102)

[−0.0145]

[−0.00826]

[0.0274]

 never been a smoker

−0.0342

−0.0495*

0.109

(0.0230)

(0.0211)

(0.101)

[−0.0290]

[−0.0454]

[0.0201]

Consumption of alcohol: several times a week (Ref.: daily)

0.00646

−0.0194

0.130

(0.0220)

(0.0213)

(0.108)

[0.00475]

[−0.0154]

[0.0208]

 once a week

0.0200

−0.00813

0.0311

(0.0248)

(0.0236)

(0.118)

[0.0124]

[−0.00546]

[0.00420]

 one to three times a month

0.0604*

−0.00932

0.0233

(0.0264)

(0.0253)

(0.127)

[0.0337]

[−0.00564]

[0.00284]

 less frequently

0.0836***

0.0160

−0.245*

(0.0246)

(0.0230)

(0.111)

[0.0606]

[0.0125]

[−0.0388]

 never

0.132***

0.0548*

−0.548***

(0.0310)

(0.0275)

(0.131)

[0.0710]

[0.0319]

[−0.0646]

Physical activity: several times a week (Ref.: daily)

−0.0287

−0.0104

−0.0582

(0.0252)

(0.0249)

(0.126)

[−0.0218]

[−0.00857]

[−0.00963]

 once a week

0.00542

0.00899

−0.334*

(0.0269)

(0.0261)

(0.132)

[0.00357]

[0.00641]

[−0.0481]

 one to three times a month

0.0323

0.000671

−0.0156

(0.0327)

(0.0311)

(0.159)

[0.0146]

[0.000327]

[−0.00153]

 less frequently

−0.00515

0.0127

−0.415**

(0.0294)

(0.0288)

(0.144)

[−0.00283]

[0.00755]

[−0.0497]

 never

0.0319

−0.00927

−0.763***

(0.0271)

(0.0259)

(0.128)

[0.0240]

[−0.00757]

[−0.126]

Subjective health (from 1 = “very good” to 5 = “very bad”)

0.0990***

0.0826***

−0.149***

(0.0102)

(0.00915)

(0.0434)

[0.140]

[0.127]

[−0.0462]

Number of physical illnesses

0.0449***

0.0390***

0.0731***

(0.00468)

(0.00403)

(0.0197)

[0.143]

[0.134]

[0.0509]

Fall in the preceding 12 months (Ref.: no)

0.0816***

0.0772***

0.0870

(0.0195)

(0.0176)

(0.0848)

[0.0525]

[0.0537]

[0.0122]

Constant

2.595***

2.099***

6.813***

(0.0730)

(0.0667)

(0.325)

Observations

7026

6997

7093

R²

0.108

0.090

0.070