Marisa Young

Is There a Downside to Schedule Control for the Work-Family Interface?

Using data from a 2007 U.S. survey of workers, this article examines the implications of schedule control for work—family role blurring and work—family conflict. Four main findings indicate that (a) schedule control is associated with more frequent working at home and work—family multitasking activities; (b) the positive association between schedule control and multitasking suppresses the negative association between schedule control and work— family conflict; (c) the positive association between working at home and multitasking is weaker among individuals with greater schedule control; and (d) the positive association between work—family multitasking and work— family conflict is weaker among individuals with greater schedule control. Our findings reveal previously undocumented mediating, suppression, and moderating patterns in the ways that schedule control contributes to work—family role blurring and work—family conflict. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for views of schedule control as a “resource” and theories about the borders in the work—family interface.

Social Stress in the Twenty-First Century

After we review the basic distinctions among types of stress, and between the biological and engineering models for stress, we elaborate a two-way classification of stressors, based on the chronicity of the stressor and the level of social context at which the stressor occurs. This classification allows a conceptual map of most of the kinds of events and social conditions commonly thought of as stressors. We consider the development of stress research since 2000, with special attention given to the impact of macroevents such as 9/11 on the direction of stress research. We argue that these events have especially directed attention to the study of contextual stressors and traumatic stressors. At the same time, there has also been a steady increase in the study of chronic stressors, in part, due to the affinity between chronic stress and related concepts that echo the problem of structurally based continuous stress—“stress in other words.”

Spouse’s Work-to-family Conflict, Family Stressors, and Mental Health among Dual-earner Mothers and Fathers

We examine the association between perceptions of spouse’s work-to-family conflict, family stressors, and mental health outcomes using data from a sample of 1,348 dual-earning parents from a 2011 national survey of Canadian workers. Based on crossover stress theory and the stress process model, we hypothesize that perceptions of spouse’s work-to-family conflict are associated with family stressors, which mediate the association between perceptions of spouse’s work-to-family conflict and respondent’s mental health. Using ordinary least square regression techniques, we find that perceptions of spouse’s work-to-family conflict are associated with mental health outcomes as well as secondary family stressors. Furthermore, the family stressors resulting from perceptions of spouse’s work-to-family conflict facilitate family-to-work conflict among respondents, which further explains the association between perceptions of spouse’s work-to-family conflict and mental health outcomes. We discuss the implications of these findings for theories of crossover stress and the stress process model.

Are communications about work outside regular working hours associated with work-to-family conflict, psychological distress and sleep problems?

Abstract The sending and receiving of work-related communications outside of regular work hours spans the boundary between work and non-work, and with the adoption of new communication devices it is increasing. The aim of this study was to investigate whether such communication, which we call Work Contact for short, was associated with psychological distress and sleep problems. Using data from the 2011 Canadian Work, Stress, and Health Study, a large national sample of working adults (N=5729), we found that Work Contact was associated with higher levels of work-to-family conflict, distress and sleep problems. In addition, with the Job Demands-Resources model as a guiding framework, we found support for the “resource hypothesis” – the positive association between Work Contact and either distress or sleep problems is weaker among workers with more job autonomy, schedule control and challenging work. By contrast, and consistent with the “demand hypothesis”, the positive association between Work Contact and sleep problems was stronger among those with more job pressure. Elevated levels of work-to-family conflict contributed to these interaction effects. Collectively, our findings elaborate on the complex consequences of the growing phenomenon of Work Contact, and underscore the relevance of job resources, demands and the work-family interface in these processes.

When Hard Times Take a Toll The Distressing Consequences of Economic Hardship and Life Events within the Family-Work Interface

Using two waves of data from a national survey of working Americans (N = 1,122), we examine the associations among economic hardship, negative life events, and psychological distress in the context of the family-work interface. Our findings demonstrate that family-to-work conflict mediates the effects of economic hardship and negative events to significant others on distress (net of baseline distress and hardship). Moreover, economic hardship and negative events to significant others moderate the association between family-to-work conflict and distress. While negative events to others exacerbate the positive effect of family-to-work conflict on distress, we find the opposite for economic hardship: The positive association between hardship and distress is weaker at higher levels of family-to-work conflict. These patterns hold across an array of family, work, and sociodemographic conditions. We discuss how these findings refine and extend ideas of the stress process model, including complex predictions related to processes of stress-buffering, resource substitution, and role multiplication.

Work–family conflict in context: The impact of structural and perceived neighborhood disadvantage on work–family conflict☆

Despite increasing levels of work-family conflict (WFC) among North Americans, few scholars examine the broader contexts in which these conflicts occur. I address this gap by examining how the neighborhood of residence impacts WFC, with a focus on social inequality and disadvantage across neighborhoods. I hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage may impact WFC directly-by introducing ambient stressors that inhibit individuals from successfully balancing competing domain demands, and indirectly-by undermining the psychological resources that would combat the harmful effects of disadvantaged contexts. Using individual and census-level data from Canada, I consider both objective and subjective measures of neighborhood disadvantage and find that, overall, individuals in more disadvantaged neighborhoods are worse off because these contexts increase WFC, while reducing the psychological resources that would otherwise buffer these deleterious effects. However, some of these associations vary by gender. I discuss the broader implications of these findings for neighborhood effects and WFC research.

Gender Differences in Perceived Domestic Task Equity A Study of Professionals

Despite inequalities in domestic work, a majority of couples perceive this arrangement as fair. Our study addresses this paradox by examining whether and why married lawyers perceive domestic work arrangements as unfair to themselves or their spouse. Our results reveal that predictors of perceived equity to self and spouse differ substantially and that the antecedents of perceptions of unfairness vary by gender. That is, women working longer hours are more likely than men to perceive the distribution of tasks as unfair to their spouse. Furthermore, the association between spouse’s time-based conflict and perceived task equity is greater for men than women at lower levels of spouse’s time-based conflict, though the effects converge for men and women at higher levels of time-based conflict. Our findings highlight the value in taking a more nuanced approach to studying perceived inequity in the distribution of domestic tasks among men and women.

The Impact of Neighborhood Composition on Work-Family Conflict and Distress

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.

Coaching and Athletic Career Investments: Using organisational theories to explore women's boxing

Abstract The following paper explores the extent to which women choose to invest in the sport of boxing, the ways coaches perceive women in boxing, and whether these perceptions influence coaches’ decisions in training female boxers. Human capital theory and statistical discrimination theory are applied to the sport of female boxing to better understand womens participation in the sport, and the gendered expectations coaches have for women in the sport. In‐depth interview data with boxers and coaches were analysed in relation to these theories. Findings suggest that while women are willing to invest in their personal athletic careers, coaches are hesitant to invest time and training in female boxers because of the boxers’ current or expected family obligations. This research has important implications for womens participation in male‐dominated leisure activities, like boxing, and the conflict that arises between family and leisure obligations.

Insecure People in Insecure Places: The Influence of Regional Unemployment on Workers’ Reactions to the Threat of Job Loss

Social comparison theory predicts that unemployment should be less distressing when the experience is widely shared, but does this prediction extend beyond the unemployed to those who are at risk of job loss? Research demonstrates a link between aggregate unemployment and employed individuals’ perceptions of job insecurity; however, less is known about whether the stress associated with these perceptions is shaped by others’ unemployment experiences. We analyze a nationally representative sample of Canadian workers (Canadian Work, Stress, and Health study; N = 3,900) linked to census data and test whether regional unemployment influences the mental health consequences of job insecurity. Multilevel analyses provide more support for the social norm of insecurity hypothesis over the amplified threat hypothesis: the health penalties of job insecurity are weaker for individuals in high-unemployment regions. This contingency is partially explained by the ability of insecure workers in poor labor market contexts to retain psychological resources important for protecting mental health.