title: The impact of neighborhood composition on work-family conflict and distress.
abstract: Theories of work-family conflict (WFC) and health remain limited because they emphasize individual-level antecedents to the exclusion of broader contexts, such as residential neighborhoods. We address this issue by focusing on the impact of neighborhood social composition on WFC. Among couples with children we assess whether socially similar neighbors relative to oneself reduce perceptions and mental health consequences of WFC, and whether these associations differ by gender. We argue that the convergence of similarities in residents' features relative to the respondent's own may affect WFC by influencing normative expectations about work and family, and assumptions of available support. We use data on intact families with at least one child between the ages of 9 and 16 from Toronto, Canada, linked to census data. Results highlight that greater similarity between respondents and residents reduces perceptions and consequences of WFC for women but not men. We discuss these findings in relation to neighborhood effects and mental health literature.
authors: 1McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
authors: Marisa
authors: M
authors: Young
authors: Blair
authors: B
authors: Wheaton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005191:Family Characteristics / Q000208:ethnology; D054541:Family Conflict / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005195:Family Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008603:Mental Health; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014478:Unemployment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: gender differences; mental health; neighborhood effects; social composition; work-family conflict