Brenda W. Donnelly

Multiple roles and psychological distress : The intersection of the paid worker, spouse, and parent roles with the role of the adult child

This article investigates relationships between psychological distress and objective and subjective aspects of the roles of paid worker, spouse, and parent and examines the inter.section of these roles with the adult-child role in relation to distress. The sample consists of mothers and fathers of children aged 10-17 years interviewed for the 1992-1994 National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). Hours helping and caring for parents show positive relationships with distress. Objective and subjective aspects of the roles of paid worker and spouse show consistent relationships with psychological distress among mothers and fathers. Subjective aspects of the roles of spouse and paid worker moderate some relationships between helping and caring for parents and psychological distress for mothers. The parent role is unrelated to distress. Key Words: adult child, multiple roles, paid worker, psychological distress, spouse, work. A large research literature attempts to explain relationships between involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress. This research reflects two competing approaches. The role-strain approach proposes that the greater the role accumulation, the greater the demands and role incompatibility and the greater the role strain and conflict (Burr, Leigh, Day, & Constantine, 1979; Goode, 1960). Role strain and conflict are positively related to psychological distress. The role-enhancement approach suggests that performing multiple roles provides rewards and privileges that assist in the management of multiple roles and outweigh the negative effects of role accumulation (Marks, 1977; Sieber, 1974). Thus, performing multiple roles is negatively associated with psychological distress. One way to increase understanding of the impact of multiple roles on psychological distress is to examine the contexts in which they occur, for example, role content, the circumstances and contingencies associated with roles, and the combinations in which roles occur (Messias et al., 1997; Moen, Dempster-McClain, & Williams, 1989; Wheaton, 1990). This approach moves beyond asking whether involvement in multiple roles is related to psychological distress by assessing the conditions under which relationships occur and in what form. This study distinguishes between two contexts: objective structural conditions (time in role activities) and subjective psychological conditions (subjective reactions to roles). Objective structural conditions address the concrete demands and resources associated with roles, whereas subjective psychological conditions involve subjective perceptions and experiences of roles. An intersecting context is the extent to which relationships between involvements in multiple roles and psychological distress vary by gender. Again, there are two competing hypotheses. The sex-role hypothesis predicts that, due to gender differences in role demands and salience, gender moderates relationships between role involvement and psychological distress. Because family roles such as spouse, parent, and caregiver are considered more demanding and important for women, these roles should be more strongly related to distress for women than for men. Paid work, believed to be more demanding and important for men, should be more strongly related to distress for men than for women. The social-role hypothesis predicts that, given that stress-related effects of social roles inhere in the roles themselves, comparable role involvements should have similar effects on psychological distress for men and women. This study investigates the extent to which objective and subjective aspects of roles of the paid worker, spouse, and parent affect relationships between aspects of the adult-child role and psychological distress for mothers and fathers of children aged 10-17 years. The sample consists of families in which parents are most likely to have children at home and older parents. The analyses are conducted separately for mothers and fathers to assess the extent to which relationships differ by gender. …

Relations between parental control and warmth and child well-being in stepfamilies.

Examined type-of-stepfamily differences in child well-being and parenting behaviors and how child well-being in stepfamilies relates to parenting behaviors. Data were drawn from the National Survey of Families and Households (J. A. Sweet et al, 1988) and included fathers and mothers in 448 stepfather, 76 stepmother, and 41 complex stepfamilies. Biological parents in stepfamilies perceived themselves as having higher quality relationships with their children than stepparents reported having with their stepchildren. Although stepfathers reported behaving less positively toward their children than did other fathers, stepmothers reported responding as positively to their stepchildren as did biological mothers in stepfamilies. In general, child well-being was positively related to perceptions of parental warmth. The relations between parental control and child well-being varied for different dimensions of well-being and in different types of stepfamilies.

Risk and Protective Factors for Psychological Adjustment and Grades Among Adolescents

This article examines the ways in which two risk factors—negative peer behavior and time spent without an adult—and two protective factors—adolescent resources and parental behavior—influence psychological adjustment and grades among 745 adolescents ages 10 to 17. It is an analysis of data from the National Commission on Children (1991) 1990 Survey of Parents and Children. The results indicate that negative peer behavior is inversely related to adolescent well-being. Two adolescent resources buffer the effects of negative peer behavior on grades. Adolescent resources and parental behavior also have limited independent compensatory effects on psychological adjustment and grades.

Economic distress and mental health: The role of family coping resources and behaviors

Relationships among economic distress, family coping resources and behaviors, and mental health are examined among a sample of 203 married men and 207 married women. Economic distress is negatively associated with mental health. Although family coping resources are lower among those experiencing economic distress and are generally positively related to mental health, their role as mediators of relationships between economic distress and mental health is limited. Economic distress is positively related to family coping behaviors. However, these behaviors do not have positive relationships with mental health and do not counteract the effects of economic distress on mental health. Some coping resources and behaviors have buffering effects on relationships between economic distress and mental health while others have exacerbating effects.

Economic Distress, Social Integration, and Family Satisfaction

This study examines relationships between economic distress and family satisfaction and the effects of social integration on these relationships. The sample includes 1,561 married respondents between the ages of 18 and 65 who were interviewed as part of the 1983 and 1986 General Social Surveys. Results indicate that the income components of economic distress are related to family satisfaction while the employment components are not. Economic distress is negatively related to social integration; social integration is positively related to family satisfaction. One aspect of social integration, satisfaction with friends, partially mediates the relationship between economic strain and family satisfaction. Patterns of relationships are similar across sex and occupational subgroups.

Adjustment and Satisfaction of Parents A Comparison of Intact, Single-Parent, and Stepparent Families

This study compared the relative adjustment and satisfaction of three differing groups of parents. An extensive phone interview assessing a number of dimensions of well being (anxiety, depression, child problems, marital satisfaction, and family satisfaction) was administered to 154 parents from intact families, 28 single parents, and 28 remarried parents. Results indicated that single parents were significantly less satisfied and less well adjusted than their counterparts from first marriages and remarriages but that there were no differences on any dimensions between the latter two groups. These findings are discussed with reference to existing literature, and suggestions for future research are made.

Parenting versus Placing for Adoption: Consequences for Adolescent Mothers

This study compared the impact over 2 years postpartum on female adolescents of rearing their babies (keepers) or placing them for adoption (placers). Hypotheses were that 1) placers would be less happy with their parenting decision 2) levels of mental health would be similar in both groups 3) placers would have a higher socioeconomic status 4) placers would be less likely to engage in risky sexual behavior 5) the higher socioeconomic status achieved by placers would counteract the negative impact of adoption and 6) the positive results of placers engaging in less risky sex behavior would counteract the negative impact of adoption. Data were gathered form 181 pregnant or newly postpartum adolescents in a sample from a city in Ohio between October 1987 and December 1992. The study was based on the responses of the 26 placers and 87 keepers who completed the initial and follow-up interviews (at 6 12 and 24 months postpartum). Measures included baseline controls parenting decision satisfaction with parenting decision mental health socioeconomic status and sexual risk-taking behaviors. All of the hypotheses were confirmed and it was found that adoption regret was most intense for the first year after the birth and lessened dramatically by the end of the second year. The benefits of adoption revealed by these findings should be conveyed by counselors to young women with problem pregnancies. The significant loss associated with placing a child for adoption should also be recognized and placers should receive extensive grief counseling.

A review of the chance to grow project: A care project for pregnant and parenting adolescents

This paper reports on the process and outcome of an innovative program for pregnant and parenting adolescents, the Chance to Grow Project. One hundred sixty-one pregnant adolescents were exposed to intensive decision-making counseling and case management services. These young women were followed for 24 months, as were 87 pregnant teens who served as a comparison group. The results of the analysis suggest a number of important findings. These include a much higher placement for adoption of the babies of the program participants, higher levels of school retention, economic self-sufficiency, and more responsible sexual behavior on the part of the participants. This article describes the Chance to Grow Project in detail and suggests some important practice implications which can be drawn from this analysis.

Parental perceptions of child well-being: Relations to family structure, parental depression, and marital satisfaction☆

Abstract This study examined the extent to which parental perceptions of childrens well-being were related to family structure, parental depression, and marital satisfaction. Data were taken from the National Survey of Families and Households. Subjects were both spouses in 1,446; 336; 57; and 32 first-marriage, stepfather, stepmother, and complex stepparent families, respectively. For both husbands and wives, parents in first-marriage families reported more positive parent-child relationships than did stepparents. In addition, parental depression and marital satisfaction were positively associated with perceptions of child well-being, although these relations were independent of those between family structure and child well-being. The unique and combined contributions of family structure, parental depression, and marital satisfaction to child well-being were small.