The purpose of this research was to identify significant psychological factors that mediate the relation between employment, motherhood, and the mental health status of mothers of infants. In Study 1, 209 mothers of 12-month-old infants were administered the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and a stress scale. Ss were divided into 4 groups on the basis of both employment status and employment preference. Results indicated that women who preferred employment but remained at home reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology. Study 2 demonstrated the reliability of the finding and identified issues associated with underlying psychological factors. A new sample of 164 mothers completed the aforementioned measures, the Career Salience Questionnaire, and the Maternal Role Investment Scale. Results replicated those of Study 1 and also indicated that homemakers who preferred employment held conflicting sets of beliefs about the maternal role, separation from their infants, careers, and employment.

This longitudinal study was an investigation of how older, well-educated mothers of infants come to terms with establishing a balance between maternal and career roles. The focus was on how their preference to be employed or to remain home with their infants affected the development of their anxiety about separation from their infants over the first 1 V-h months of motherhood. On measures of anxiety about separation, career salience, and maternal role investment, 26 mothers who preferred employment were compared with 36 mothers who preferred to stay at home. Measures were taken at 2 days, 7 weeks, 8 months, and 1 Vh months postpartum. Employment-preference mothers' anxiety about separation declined earlier and to a greater extent. Discussion centers on the importance of employment preference as opposed to actual employment status for understanding how women balance career and motherhood.

This study examines gender differences in the extent and type of household activity and sense of domestic obligation across familial stages within a sample of young college-educated adults (N = 1,151). When children are present, substantial gender differences appear in housework and perceived home obligations. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of gender socialization and preparation for parenting.

This is a report from the first phase of a longitudinal study of the ways young adults imagine their future lives. The future possible selves of 223 18- and 19-year-old adults were examined using the Anticipated Life History measure (ALH), a psychological instrument prompting participants to describe their future life course from their 21st birthday until their death. When the ALH narratives were coded for presence/absence of life events, female participants were more likely to predict career choice, marriage, children, divorce, and death of spouse than their male counterparts; when coded for psychological qualities, female participants demonstrated greater psychological complexity and awareness of future life role choices and conflicts. Participants with lower SES wrote ALH narratives with fewer altruistic acts, less awareness of life role complexity, and fewer anticipated conflicts and their resolutions than those with higher SES.

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