Depression, Work and Family Roles, and the Gendered Life Course

Abstract

Despite the importance of employment for shaping mental health over the life course, little is known about how the mental health benefits of employment change as individuals age through their prime employment and child-rearing years. This study examines the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 Cohort ( N = 8,931), following respondents from their late 20s to mid-50s. Results suggest that among women, the aging of children is especially salient for shaping the mental health consequences of employment. Young children diminish the protective effect of mothers' full- and part-time employment, but the salubrious effects of paid work increase as children get older. The benefit of employment for men's mental health also changes over time, but it is the aging of men themselves rather than their children that alters the magnitude of full-time employment's protective effect. Findings suggest the contribution of employment to life course mental health remains tethered to traditional gender roles.

Long-term clinical and functional course of borderline personality disorder: A meta-analysis of prospective studies

“…Additionally, BPD women are more likely to have a history of childhood sexual abuse and experience episodes of physical and sexual aggression during adulthood, which is related to higher psychosocial impairment [59,61]. On the other hand, sociological studies have noted that gender roles determine different strains and benefits of normative social adaptation for men and women, which might also contribute to hindering psychosocial adjustment in female BPD subjects; for example, caregiving roles for women in the general population are associated with greater psychological distress and increased reductions in the protective benefits of employment for mental health, reporting higher rates of exposure to stressful life events involving significant others [62,63].…”

Gender, Emotions, and Mental Health in the United States: Patterns, Explanations, and New Directions

“…Sociologists have identified several stressors to which employed wives are disproportionately exposed compared to employed husbands. Their relatively lower wages and more restrictive occupations, the limited availability of affordable high-quality childcare outside the home for which they are primarily responsible, as well as the failure of men to participate equitably in housework and childcare within the home all contribute to the gender disparity in depression in two-income marriages (Bird 1999; Glass and Fugimoto 1994; Lennon 1987; Lennon and Rosenfield 1995; Luepp 2017, Forthcoming; Ross and Mirowsky 1988; Roxburgh 1996).…”

Midlife Work and Women’s Long-Term Health and Mortality

“…Scholars initially raised concerns that women's movement into the labor force would result in stress by pitting family and work demands against each other (e.g., Sorensen and Verbrugge 1987;Waldron and Jacobs 1988;Weatherall et al 1994). However, results from the majority of these and other studies showed that women who worked were better off mentally and physically than nonworkers, including those with husbands and young children-a pattern that continues to be replicated (Frech and Damaske 2012;Klumb and Lampert 2004;Leupp 2017;Pavalko et al 2007;Schnittker 2007). Social scientists explain the consistent positive relationship between work and health by pointing to the many material, social, and psychosocial resources that employment provides, from income and health insurance to supportive relationships and feelings of self-worth (Burgard and Lin 2013;Moen 1996;Pavalko and Smith 1999;Repetti et al 1989).…”