Health at the Intersection of Work and Family for American Mothers

Citation

Finnigan-Fox, Grace (2018). Health at the Intersection of Work and Family for American Mothers.

Abstract

The combination of work and motherhood is increasingly common in the United States, with over half of mothers employed in some capacity. However, research to date has focused primarily on broad aspects of both work (eg, employed vs. unemployed), and family life (married vs. unmarried); the health implications of detailed combinations of employment and family circumstances have received less attention, both in respect to mental as well as behavioral and physiological well-being. Understanding the relationships among domains of psychological distress, behavior, and physiological functioning earlier in the life course may benefit disease prevention initiatives. This study aims to address these gaps by using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to explore 1) how detailed aspects of work-family circumstances relate to perceived stress and depression among young working mothers, 2) whether detailed work-family characteristics that bear upon stress and depression are similarly related to a vector of coping behaviors, and 3) whether any aspects of work-family circumstances found to be correlated with stress, depression and coping behaviors are also correlated with biomarkers gauging cardiometabolic health. Results from multivariable regression models show that certain work characteristics (such as repetitive work) are significantly associated with multiple dimensions of health, while others (such as decision-making latitude) are associated with just one dimension (eg, self-reported stress) but not another. Taken together, the results from this study illustrate the nuanced ways in which work and family life combine to influence physiological and mental well-being, as well as the health behaviors that often compound these health outcomes.

URL

http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2160956830?accountid=14244

Keyword(s)

Social sciences

Notes

ProQuest document ID 2160956830

Reference Type

Thesis/Dissertation

Book Title

Sociology

Author(s)

Finnigan-Fox, Grace

Series Author(s)

Lippert, Adam M.

Year Published

2018

Volume Number

13419020

Publisher

University of Colorado at Denver

City of Publication

Ann Arbor, MI

ISSN/ISBN

9780438754478

DOI