Karen T. Van Gundy

The Nature of Work and the Stress of Higher Status.

Are occupational and work conditions associated with work-to-home conflict? If so, do those associations vary by gender? Among a sample of adults in Toronto, Canada, we found that men and women in higher-status occupations reported higher levels of work-to-home conflict than workers in lower-status jobs. In addition, we observed higher levels of work-to-home conflict among workers who are self-employed and among those with more job authority, demands, involvement, and longer hours. The only significant gender-contingent effect was found for nonroutine work, which is associated positively with work-to-home conflict among men but not women. Higher levels of job demands, involvement, and hours among individuals in higher-status occupations significantly contribute to occupation-based differences in work-to-home conflict. Moreover, despite some overlap, these work conditions have largely independent associations with work-to-home conflict. Results generally support the “stress of higher status” hypothesis among both women and men. Although higher-status positions yield many rewards, such positions are not impervious to inter-role stress, and this stress may offset those rewards.

Status, role, and resource explanations for age patterns in psychological distress.

Using data from the 1996 and 1998 General Social Surveys, we explore the relationships among age, age-linked personal and social qualities, and two measures of psychological distress: depression (1996) and generalized distress (1998). Our study has three aims: (1) to replicate the u-shaped age-distress relationship in two recent U.S. data sets, (2) to confirm and elaborate on the mediators of the parabolic association, and (3) to explore the possible suppressor effects. In 1996, depression decreases from young adulthood into midlife and increases among the oldest-old. Less education, lower control, and widowhood contribute to old-age upturn; however, fewer time demands and greater financial satisfaction suppress the upward curve. Conversely, greater control, less shame, and greater religious attendance contribute to the decline through midlife; however, poorer health in midlife suppress that decline. Age patterns in distress are similar in the 1998 sample. Greater satisfaction with finances and fewer religious doubts contribute to the downward slope; however, declining levels of health suppress that downturn. Less education and retired status contribute to the old-age upturn. In sum, personal and social conditions have opposing influences on the parabolic relationship between age and distress.

The personal and social links between age and self-reported empathy

In this study we examine the relationship between age and self-reported empathy. Using data from a 1985 community sample of 1,567 individuals from southwestern Ontario we document a strong negative association between age and empathy. The results show that age-associated patterns in socioeconomic status, widowhood, physical impairment, and dispositional attributes contribute to more than 65 percent of the total negative association between age and empathy. Conversely, a more positive balance of interpersonal relationships and greater religious involvement among older adults conceals about 20 percent of the size of the age-empathy association; that is, those factors tend to conceal older peoples otherwise lower self-reported level of empathy. Other findings show that women report significantly more empathy and that the gender gap closes at older ages. Also, higher education significantly moderates the negative age-empathy association. Collectively our findings highlight the emotional significance of age-associated personal and social factors over the life course.

Personal Resources and Depression in the Transition to Adulthood: Ethnic Comparisons*

Based on a representative sample of 1,803 South Florida young adults, we examine the extent to which personal attributes mediate or moderate the ethnicity-depression relationship and condition the effects of social stress on depression. Our sample contains nearly equal proportions of African American, Cuban American, “other” Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white respondents. Findings suggest that there are ethnic variations in four of the five personal resources considered. Additionally, when accounting for ethnic differences in response tendencies and in the confounding of personal resources with depression, there is strong evidence for both direct and stress-buffering effects of personal resources. Although naïve comparisons of within group findings imply a number of ethnic variations in those effects, few statistically significant differences are observed. It is suggested that ethnic similarities outweigh differences, at least with respect to the mental health significance of the personal resources considered. Overall, the results highlight some of the complexities inherent in making multi-ethnic comparisons.

Can Control Theory Explain the Link Between Parental Physical Abuse and Delinquency? A Longitudinal Analysis

Although a growing literature suggests that physical abuse is associated with delinquency, little empirical research has attempted to probe the nature of the mechanism that underlies the apparent relationship. Moreover, because the theoretical literature tends to invoke learning and strain theories as explanations for the apparent relationship, even less research has attempted to determine whether control theory can account for the link between abuse and delinquency. It remains possible, however, that measures of abuse are highly correlated with self-control or that abuse itself promotes delinquency only insofar as it impedes conventional social bonds. The present study attempts to provide a preliminary test of these possibilities using three waves of panel data from a national probability sample. Longitudinal results suggest that abuse contributes to violent offending as well as property offending and that neither self-control theory nor social bonding theory appears capable of explaining the relationship.

Home-to-Work Conflict, Work Qualities, and Emotional Distress

Among a representative sample of employed men and women in Toronto, Canada, home-to-work conflict is associated positively with anxiety and depression. Two hypotheses propose work qualities as moderators. The double disadvantage hypothesis predicts that home-to-work conflict is more distressing when work is nonautonomous, routine, or noxious. The intrusion on job status/rewards hypothesis predicts that conflict is more distressing when work is autonomous, nonroutine, or nonnoxious. Results show that the association between home-to-work conflict and distress is stronger (1) among people in more autonomous jobs; (2) among women in routinized jobs; and (3) among men in noxious environments.

The Relationship between Age and Depressive Symptoms: A Test of Competing Explanatory and Suppression Influences

Objective: The objective is to examine competing explanatory and suppression influences on a negative, linear association between age and depressive symptoms. Methods:Two samples were used: a community sample of physically disabled individuals and a comparison sample matched on age, sex, and area of residence. Results:Fewer economic hardships and fewer experiences of negative interpersonal exchanges among older disabled and nondisabled respondents account for the negative relationship between age and depressive symptoms. Higher scores on a composite measure of religiosity among older disabled adults also account for part of the negative age effect. Conversely, a lower sense of mastery among older respondents in both samples suppresses the size of the negative age slope. Discussion:Findings are discussed in terms of stress process and socioemotional selectivity theories, which predict that personal and social arrangements influence the experience of emotions differentially across the life course.

Gender, the assertion of autonomy, and the stress process in young adulthood

Using data from a study of young adults in south Florida, I apply the stress process model to investigating relationships between gender, stressful events, the assertion of autonomy, and two outcomes: depression and criminal behavior. As in prior research, findings suggest that women average higher depression, men average higher criminal behavior, and exposure to stressful events increases risk for both outcomes. Gender differences in outcomes, however, are not explained by gender differences in vulnerability nor in exposure to stress. The assertion of autonomy-a traditionally masculine quality-reduces risk for depression for both women and men, increases risk for crime among men, and reduces risk for crime among women. Autonomy, however, neither mediates the effects of gender nor moderates the effects of stress on either outcome. Results speak to the limits of examining single outcomes, and qualify conditions under which gendered qualities such as autonomy may act as psychosocial resources or detriments in the stress process.

Don't trust anyone over 30: Parental legitimacy as a mediator between parenting style and changes in delinquent behavior over time

Both law and society scholars and developmental psychologists have focused on the legitimacy of authority figures, although in different domains (police versus parents). The purpose of the current research is to bridge these two fields by examining the relations among parenting style (i.e., authoritarian, authoritative, permissive), the perception of parental legitimacy, and changes in delinquency over time. It is hypothesized that parental legitimacy mediates the relation between parenting style and future delinquent behavior. Middle school and high school students completed questionnaires three times over a period of 18 months. Parenting style and delinquent behavior were measured at time 1, parental legitimacy at time 2, and delinquency again at time 3. The results show that authoritative parenting was positively related to parental legitimacy, while authoritarian parenting was negatively associated with parental legitimacy. Furthermore, parental legitimacy was negatively associated with future delinquency. Structural equation modeling indicated that parental legitimacy mediated the relation between parenting styles and changes in delinquency over the 18-month time period. The implications for parenting style and parental legitimacy affecting delinquent behavior are discussed.

Can Social Psychological Delinquency Theory Explain the Link between Marijuana and other Illicit Drug Use? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Gateway Hypothesis

Extensive research suggests that marijuana use tends to precede the use of other illicit substances among adolescents. At the same time, there remain two viable interpretations of such research. First, marijuana use may cause an increase in ones probability of using other drugs. Second, the correlation between marijuana use and other drug use may be spurious, reflecting the influence of one or more “third variables” that simultaneously cause both behaviors. The present paper provides an empirical assessment of each view using panel data from three waves of the National Youth Survey. Even after adjusting for the influence of variables derived from strain theory, social bonding theory, and differential association theory, a series of longitudinal logistic regression analyses fail to disconfirm the hypothesis that marijuana use exerts a causal influence on ones probability of using other illicit substances. A three-wave panel model adjusting for the influence of unmeasured variables yields similar results.