Women's involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress.
Women's involvement in multiple roles was examined in relation to three stress indices: role overload, role conflict, and anxiety. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, effects of number of roles occupied; occupancy of the particular roles of paid worker, wife, and mother; and the quality of a woman's experience in her roles were analyzed. Data were from a disproportionate stratified random sample (N = 238) of Caucasian women between 35 and 55 years of age. For the total sample and for employed women, occupancy of the role of mother was related to two stress indices; occupancy of the role of paid worker was related to none. The quality of experience in the work and parental roles was a significant predictor of role overload; quality of parental role experience was a significant predictor of role conflict and of anxiety.
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D012380:Role; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology