Gender and age differences in domain-specific life satisfaction and the impact of depressive and anxiety symptoms: a general population survey from Germany.

Purpose: Determine age and gender differences and interaction effects in domain-specific life satisfaction in the German population and examine to which degree depressive and anxiety symptoms are associated with life satisfaction in addition to sociodemographic variables, and which domains are affected.

Methods: Representative survey of the German population conducted 2006 with 5,036 participants (53.6% female). Mean age was 48.4 years (SD = 18.0). Measurements included domain-specific life satisfaction (FLZ(M)), anxiety (GAD-7), depressive symptoms (PHQ-2), and sociodemographic variables (e.g., marital status, income, employment, education, urbanity, part of Germany, religiousness, age and gender).

Results: Women were more satisfied with their family life, men showed greater satisfaction with their leisure activities. Age-group differences appeared in every life satisfaction domain. Age by gender interaction emerged in the field of satisfaction with health, income, and family life. Anxiety and depressive symptoms contributed significantly to the explained variance of domain-specific life satisfaction.

Conclusions: Depressive and anxiety symptoms as two psychological variables have an additional impact on domain-specific life satisfaction. Further investigation is needed regarding the impact of psychological variables on domain-specific life satisfaction.