The total workload of parents employed in white‐collar jobs: Construction of a questionnaire and a scoring system

Abstract

Lundberg, U. & Frankenhaeuser, M. (1991). The total workload of parents employed in white-collar jobs: construction of a questionnaire and a scoring system. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 32, 233-239.Recent research on stress and health of employed women underscores the importance of taking their total workload into account, i.e., the combined load of paid work and unpaid duties, mostly related to home and family. The aim of the present study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a questionnaire for assessing the characteristics and perceived load from paid work, household duties, child care, other responsibilities, time spent on the different duties, and positive and negative aspects of the total work situation. The questionnaire was mailed to stratified samples of parents (1025 males, 1025 females) employed in white-collar jobs. Criteria for inclusion were age 32-58, at least one child under 18 living at home, and full-time employment (at least 35 hourslweek). Answers to 134 questions from 356 women and 509 men were submitted to factor analysis. 17 primary and 3 secondary factors (indices) were identified within the areas of paid job descriptors, personal control, workload, and qualification. Internal consistency reliabilities ranged from 0.70 to 0.92 (with one exception). It was concluded that the questionnaire provides a reliable tool for the study of stress-related aspects of the total workload of male and female white collar workers. Key wordr:Paid and unpaid work, role conflicts, factor analysis, workload indices. B. Mirdberg, National Defence Research Establidunent, S-651 80 Karlstad, SwedenA key notion in the biopsychosocial approach to stress and health (Frankenhaeuser, 1981(Frankenhaeuser, , 1986 is that a moderately intense and vaned input from the environment is a prerequisite for individual wellbeing, efficiency and good health. Overstimulation occurs when the demands exceed the individual's resources, understimulation when tasks are monotonous, repetitive and too simple. Situations characterized by a balance between external demands and personal ability are perceived as challenging, evoke satisfaction, and even joy despite heavy demands. Personal control, ability to predict and plan ahead as well as social support, further strengthen the individual's ability to cope with heavy demands (Gardell & Johansson, 1981; House et a/., 1988;Folkman, 1984). Kahn (1984) introduced the term productive activity, which takes into account both paid employment and unpaid productive work, e.g., housework and child care. Unpaid work has by tradition generally been performed by women and, in consistency with this, a study (Kahn, in press) of men and women showed that men generally spend more hours in paid work, women more in unpaid, and that women's total productive activity is markedly higher throughout the life cycle.The significance of this research area for the understanding of stress-related health risks has been highlighted in a series of recent studies. Thus, Frankenhaeuser et al. (1989) found th...

Switching Off Mentally: Predictors and Consequences of Psychological Detachment From Work During Off-Job Time.

“…This result corresponds to the observation that women react more negatively to stressful situations (Kivimäki et al, 1997). This finding is also in line with a totalworkload interpretation claiming that women face a higher total workload, including household and child-care duties, which makes it more difficult to recover during evening hours (Mardberg, Lundberg, & Frankenhaeuser, 1991). In the present study women spent more time on household and child-care activities, t(85) ϭ 2.43, p Ͻ .05; however, time spent on household activities did not predict fatigue.…”

Postpartum depressive symptoms and the combined load of paid and unpaid work: a longitudinal analysis

“…Total workload, adapted from Mårdberg et al (1991), was defined as the total hours spent on paid duties (employment or work for pay) and unpaid duties (travel to and from paid work and day care; domestic chores; running errands outside of the home; yard work; and family care including infant cares). Not included in total workload was time spent sleeping, performing personal cares, or leisure activities (e.g., visiting friends, exercising).…”

Flight attendants' daily recovery from work: Is there no place like home?

“…Similar to job-related and other task-related activities, most household and child-care activities are obligatory in nature. In addition, these activities are demanding, draw upon one's resources, and cause fatigue in the individual (Grandey & Cropanzano, 1999;Mardberg, Lundberg, & Frankenhaeuser, 1991).…”