Socio-economic gradients in psychological distress: A focus on women, social roles and work-home characteristics (original) (raw)
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Women, family demands and health: the importance of employment status and socio-economic position
Social Science & Medicine, 2004
Although it is generally assumed that women engaged in paid work have better health than full-time homemakers, little is known about the situation in Southern European countries like Spain or about differences in the impact of family demands by employment status or the potential interaction with educational level. The objectives of this study are to analyse whether inequalities in health exist among housewives and employed women, and to assess whether the relationship between family demands and health differs by employment status. Additionally, for both objectives we examine the potential different patterns by educational level. The data have been taken from the 1994 Catalonian Health Survey (Spain). The sample was drawn from all women aged 25-64 years who were employed or full-time homemakers and married or cohabiting. Four health indicators (self-perceived health status, limiting long-standing illness, chronic conditions and mental health) and two health related behaviours (hours of sleeping and leisure-time physical activity) were analysed. Family demands were measured through household size, living with children under 15 and living with elderly. Overall, female workers had a better health status than housewives, although this pattern was more consistent for women of low educational level. Conversely, the health related behaviours analysed were less favourable for workers, mainly for those of low educational level. Among workers of low educational level, family demands showed a negative effect in most health indicators and health related behaviours, but had little or no negative association at all in workers of high educational level or in full-time homemakers. Moreover, among women of low educational level, both workers and housewives, living with elderly had showed a negative association with poor health status and health related behaviours. These results emphasise the need of considering the interaction between family demands, employment status and educational level in analysing the impact of family demands on women's health as well as in designing family policies and programmes of women's health promotion. r
Advances in Life Course Research, 2021
This study uses multi-channel sequence analysis to characterize work-family life course types between the ages of 16 and 42, and multivariable logistic regression to examine their association with psychological distress at age 42/43 for men and women in three nationally-representative British birth cohorts born in 1946 (N = 2,858), 1958 (N = 9,140), and 1970 (N = 7,095). We hypothesised that work-family life courses characterized by weaker links to employment and earlier transitions to partnerships and parenthood would be associated with a greater probability of psychological distress at age 42, and that this association would be become more pronounced across cohorts. Levels of psychological distress were higher amongst men and women with weaker long-term ties to employment, although these were largely explained by early life factors. Teen mothers had higher levels of psychological distress in the two later-born cohorts, and this remained unexplained in adjusted models for the 1970 cohort.
Depressive symptoms among women employed outside the home
American Journal of Community Psychology, 1985
Researchers who attempt to explain why paid employment is a source of psychological distress for some women must consider how a number o f factors in the work and nonoccupational environments influence a woman's reaction to employment outside the home. We examined four aspects of the job that may be a source of distress for working women: job dissatisfaction, pay dissatisfaction, commitment to the work role, and full versus part-time employment. Of these, pay dissatisfaction and commitment to the work role emerged as significant predictors of depressive symptoms. With regard to home-related roles, neither help with housework nor the presence of young children in the home exerted a significant direct effect on psychological distress. Young children at home did, however, have a significant interaction effect with a woman's sex role beliefs. Finally, the presence of a conflict between the work and home roles was also a significant predictor of depression. As the proportion of women entering the labor force continues to grow (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1979), social scientists have shown an increasing interest in examining whether paid employment influences the psychological / well-being of women who work outside the home (see Haw, 1982, for a review
Gender, work roles and psychosocial work characteristics as determinants of health
Social Science & Medicine, 1998
This paper aims to identify gender similarities and differences in psychosocial work characteristics for those in and out of paid employment, to inform research on possible health-related effects. Specifically five questions are addressed: do women report poorer work characteristics than men; are gender differences related to specific characteristics; do work characteristics differ between full- and part-time women workers and between those in paid and unpaid work; are socio-economic gradients in work characteristics similar for men and women; and, if there are gradients, do they differ between women in paid and unpaid work? Analyses are based on the 33 year follow-up of the 1958 British birth cohort. Four psychosocial work characteristics were examined: learning opportunities, monotony, pace of work, and flexibility of breaks. Women reported more negative work characteristics than men, primarily because of differences in learning opportunities (26% lacked opportunity compared with 13% of men) and monotonous work (47 and 31% respectively). Women in full-time employment reported fewer negative characteristics (27%) than part-time (39%) or home-workers (36%). Home-workers had fewer opportunities for learning (36%) and greater monotony (49%) than paid workers (21 and 22% respectively), however fewer home-workers reported inability to control the work pace (11% compared to 23%) and inflexibility of breaks (21% compared to 47%). Socio-economic gradients in work characteristics were similar among men and women, except for flexibility of break times. A socio-economic gradient in work characteristics was found for full- and part-time workers, but not among home-workers. Differences in self reported health were also examined: a social gradient was found for all employment status groups, being strongest for home-workers despite the absence of a gradient in negative work characteristics. In conclusion, these marked gender differences in psychosocial work characteristics need to be considered in future research on work and health.
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2006
This study investigated how socioeconomic factors and psychosocial conditions are related to self-reported health among 43-year-old women representing the general Swedish population (N = 569). Odds ratios and multiple logistic regression analyses were used for associations and effect modification, adjusted for symptom reporting in adolescence. Poor self-reported health was predicted by low income, financial worries, and job strain, as well as combined exposure to a high level of unpaid household work and job strain (double burden). In conclusion, poor psychosocial conditions related to working life, as well as to the combined impact of paid and unpaid work were revealed to be risk factors for poor self-reported health among middle-aged women. These results highlight the need for improving women's work conditions, as well as designing family policies that promote a better sharing of unpaid household tasks and responsibilities between spouses.
Work and family roles in relation to women's well-being
1993
Previous research on women has focused on the influence of the overall workor familyrole experiences rather than on the specific characteristics of each role. Using multidimensional measures of work-and family-role experiences, this study first examined (Time 1) the additive cumulative contributions of role experiences in the prediction of women's well-being (happiness and symptoms of psychological distress). While work overload significantly predicted distress at Time 2, none of the family-role variables were related to well-being. Second, as the sample was made up of two groups of women who differed in occupational status (secretaries and professional women), it was possible that the effects of overload on distress might be conditioned by occupational status. The group X overload interaction term was found to be highly significant Cp < .007); high occupational status moderated the negative effects of work overload. By contrast, secretaries were adversely affected by work overload. These results are discussed in relation to the existing literature, with reference to women's work and family roles in relation to well-being, and the effects of occupational status on health outcomes.
Multiple roles of working women and psychological well-being
Industrial Psychiatry Journal, 2017
Background: Today, women's roles are emerging differently with new commitment and career oriented as well as commitment to families. So, this in turn leads to a number of stress and strain among working women. Aims and Objectives: The aim and objective of this study was to elucidate the work-family conflict on psychological well-being experienced by working women and to determine whether social support has beneficial role in the psychological well-being of the working women. Materials and Methods: Eighty-two women working in different professions from dual-earner family and 82 homemakers from traditional single-earner family were included in the study and assessed on the following: (1) Postgraduate Institute (PGI) Health Questionnaire and (2) PGI Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ) for the assessment of well-being and social support, respectively, and data were analyzed. Results: Working women scored lower on PGI Health Questionnaire than homemakers, which was statistically highly significant, indicating that working women had higher psychological well-being than homemakers or nonworking women. On the assessment of PGI and SSQ, scores revealed that women in dual-earner families perceived lower social support as compared to those of single-earner families. Conclusion: Employed women are more satisfied with their life than nonworking women, and the quality of home and work environments determines the impact of employment on the psychological well-being of working women in dual-earner families.