This article presents a study that examined the relationship between involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress among 380 Caucasian and African American women aged 18—60, focusing on women’s roles as paid workers, wives, and mothers. The quality of the mother role was significantly associated with psychological distress, while role occupancy and role quantity were not. Furthermore, the African American and white women appeared to be affected similarly by the quality of their experience in the mother role.
Abdi, H. ( 2007). Bonferroni and Sidak corrections for multiple comparisons . In N. Salkind (Ed.). Encyclopedia of measurement and statistics (pp. 103-107). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
2.
Barnett, R. ( 2004). Women and multiple roles: Myths and reality. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 12, 158-164.
3.
Barnett, R., & Baruch, G. ( 1985). Women’s involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 135-145.
4.
Barnett, R., & Hyde, J. ( 2001). Women, men, work, and family: An expansionist theory . American Psychologist, 56(10), 781-796.
5.
Barnett, R., & Marshall, N. ( 1991). The relationship between women’s work and family roles and their subjective well-being and psychological distress. In M. Frankenhaeuser, U. Lundberg, & M. Chesney (Eds.), Women, work and health: Stress and opportunities (pp. 111-136). New York, NY: Plenum Press.
6.
Barnett, R.C., Gareis, K.C., & Brennan, R.T. ( 2008). Wives’ shift work schedules and husbands’ and wives’ well-being in dual-earner couples with children. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 396-422.
7.
Baruch, G.K., & Barnett, R.C. ( 1986). Role quality, multiple role involvement and psychological well-being in midlife women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 578-585.
8.
Broman, C. ( 1991). Gender, work-family roles, and psychological well-being of blacks. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 509-520.
9.
Cha, Y. ( 2010). Reinforcing separate spheres: The effect of spousal overwork on men’s and women’s employment in dual-earner households. American Sociological Review, 75, 303-329.
10.
Coverman, S. ( 1989). Role overload, role conflict and stress: Addressing consequences of multiple role demands. Social forces, 67, 965-982.
11.
Dilworth, J. ( 2004). Predictors of negative spillover from family to work . Journal of Family Issues, 25, 241-261.
12.
George, L.K., & Lynch, S.M. ( 2003). Race differences in depressive symptoms: A dynamic perspective on stress exposure and vulnerability. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44, 353-369.
13.
Glynn, K., Maclean, H., Forte, T., & Cohen, M. ( 2009). The association between role overload and women’s mental wealth. Journal of Women’s Health, 18, 217-223.
14.
Goldberg, D.P., & Hillier, V.F. ( 1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire . Psychological Medicine, 9, 139-145.
15.
Gomez, V. ( 2006). Quality of family and work roles and its relationship with health indicators in men and women. Sex Roles, 55, 787-799.
16.
Goode, W.J. ( 1960). A theory of role strain. American Sociological Review, 25, 483-496.
17.
Goodman, W.B. & Crouter, A.C. ( 2009). Longitudinal associations between maternal work stress, negative work-family spillover, and depressive symptoms. Family Relations, 58, 245-258.
18.
Greenberger, E., & O’Neil, R. (1993). Spouse, parent, worker: Role commitments and role-related experiences in the construction of adults’ well-being. Developmental Psychology, 29, 181-181.
19.
Hochschild, A.R. ( 1997). The time bind: When work becomes home and home becomes work. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
20.
Hochschild, A.R., & Machung, A. ( 2003). The second shift (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Penguin Books.
21.
Jackson, P.B. ( 1997). Role occupancy and minority mental health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 237-255.
22.
Jackson, P.B., & Mustillo, S. ( 2001). I am woman: The impact of social identities on African American women’s mental health. Women and Health, 32, 33-59.
23.
Kandel, D.B., Davies, M., & Raveis, V.H. ( 1985). The stressfulness of daily social roles for women: Marital occupational and household roles. Journal of Heatlh and Social Behavior, 26, 64-78.
24.
Keene, J.R., & Reynolds, J.R. (2005). The job costs of family demands: Gender differences in negative family-to-work spillover. Journal of Family Issues, 26, 275-299.
25.
King, E.B., Botsford, W.E., & Huffman, A.H. ( 2009). Work, family and organizational advancement: Does balance support the perceived advancement of mothers?Sex Roles, 61, 879-891.
26.
Longley, R. ( 2009). Women of color making gains in the workplace. US Government Info. Retrieved from http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/aawomeneeoc.htm
27.
Marcussen, K., & Piatt, L. ( 2005). Race differences in the relationship between role experiences and well-being. Health, 9, 379-402.
28.
Marks, S.R. ( 1977). Multiple roles and role strain: Some notes on human energy, time, and commitment. American Sociological Review, 42, 921-936.
29.
Maume, D.J. ( 2008). Gender differences in providing urgent childcare among dual-earner parents. Social Forces, 87, 273-297.
30.
Menaghan, E. ( 1989). Role changes and psychological well-being: Variations in effects by gender and role repertoire. Social Forces, 67, 693-714.
31.
Mennino, S., Rubin, B., & Brayfield, A. ( 2005). Home-to-job and job-to-home spillover: The impact of company policies and workplace culture. Sociological Quarterly , 46, 107-135.
32.
Nordenmark, M. ( 2002). Multiple social roles-A resource or a burden: Is it possible for men and women to combine paid work with family life in a satisfactory way? Gender Work and Organization, 9, 125-145.
33.
Nordenmark, M. ( 2004). Multiple social roles and well-being: A longitudinal test of the role stress theory and the role expansion theory. Acta Sociologica, 47, 115-126.
34.
Ong, A.D., Fuller-Rowell, T., & Burrow, A.L. ( 2009). Racial discrimination and the stress process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 1259-1271.
35.
Rushing, B., Ritter, C., & Burton, R.P.D. (1992). Race differences in the effects of multiple roles on health: Longitudinal evidence from a national sample of older men. Journal of Health and Social Behavior , 33, 126-139.
36.
Sachs-Ericsson, N., & Ciarlo, J. ( 2000). Gender, social roles, and mental health: An epidemiological perspective. Sex Roles, 43, 605-628.
37.
Sieber, S.D. ( 1974). Toward a theory of role accumulation. American Sociological Review, 39, 567-578.
38.
Stevens, D.P., Minnotte, K.L., Mannon, S.E., & Kiger, G. ( 2007). Examining the ‘‘neglected side of the work-family interface.’’ Journal of Family Issues, 28, 242-262.
39.
Tang, C., Lee, A., Tang, T., Cheung, F., & Chan, C. ( 2002). Role occupancy, role quality, and psychological distress in Chinese women. Women & health, 36, 49-66.
40.
Thoits, P. ( 1983). Multiple identities and psychological well-being: A reformulat6ion and test of the social isolation hypothesis. American Sociological Review, 48, 174-187.
41.
Thoits, P. ( 1986). Multiple identities: Examining gender and marital status differences in distress. American Sociological Review, 51, 259-272.
42.
U.S. Department of Labor. (2009). Women’s Bureau: Quick stats on women workers, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/main.htm
43.
Waldron, I., & Jacobs, J.A. ( 1989). Effects of multiple roles on women’s health: Evidence from a national longitudinal study. Women & Health, 13, 3-19.
