Citation
Ueno, Koji; Vaghela, Preeti; & Nix, Amanda N. (2018). Gender composition of the occupation, sexual orientation, and mental health in young adulthood. Stress and Health. vol. 34 (1) pp. 3-14Abstract
The gender composition of the occupation has important implications for work conditions, rewards, and experiences, but little is known about whether it impacts workers' mental health. The present study seeks to answer this question by focusing on depressive symptoms and drug dependence symptoms as mental health outcomes and young adulthood as the life course context. The study further examines whether the association varies by sexual orientation, considering that occupational gender composition affects levels of stress exposure and social support availability in different ways for heterosexuals and sexual minorities. The analysis of the U.S. data, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), shows that among heterosexuals, working in a more female-typical occupation is associated with lower levels of drug dependence symptoms for women and higher levels of depressive symptoms for men. Sexual minorities show a diverging pattern—working in a more female-typical occupation is associated with worse mental health for sexual minority women and better mental health for sexual minority men.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smi.2755Keyword(s)
depression drug use gender occupations sexual orientation young adultsReference Type
Journal ArticleJournal Title
Stress and HealthAuthor(s)
Ueno, KojiVaghela, Preeti
Nix, Amanda N.