When work keeps us apart: a thematic analysis of the experience of business travellers

Whilst business travel is deemed important for organisational success and economic outcomes, little is known about the actual process of business travelling from the perspective of individuals who undertake such travel on a regular basis. Thus the current qualitative study examined how business travellers (three women and eight men) attempt to find a balance between work and family, by focusing on how time together and time apart are experienced. The results can be interpreted and framed within work/family border theory in that business travellers' borders are less defined and less permeable, thus requiring them to border-cross more frequently. This necessitates a process of negotiation with key border-keepers (their spouse/partner). Business travellers also undertake compensatory behaviours to make up their time away from family. In order to find a work/family balance, they go through a process of adapting, negotiating and tailoring their lives around their work commitments to alleviate work–life conflict.     

Gambling-related problems across life domains: an exploratory study of non-treatment-seeking weekly gamblers

This study uses content analysis to provide a qualitative exploration of how life roles are affected by frequent (i.e. at least weekly) gambling, based on in-depth interviews with a community sample of 161 non-treatment-seeking frequent gamblers. Over half (51.6%) of the participants indicated problems associated with gambling and 131 examples were identified. The majority of problems were relational (50.4%), followed by financial (19.8%), work (13.7%), and school related (8.4%). Slightly less than half of participants (41.7%) reported losses due to gambling and 92 examples were provided. The most frequently reported loss was identity related (54.3%), which included self-esteem/shame (38.0%), estrangement from family (34.0%), estrangement from friends (16.0%), and estrangement from work colleagues (6.0%). Additional losses included health (29.3%) and financial (8.7%). Almost two-thirds of participants (64.6%) reported difficulty concentrating in family (18.4%), work (16.8%), and school (9.6%) activities, whereas general concentration problems comprised an additional 48.8% of the examples provided. Half of participants (49.1%) discussed behavioral withdrawal due to gambling, which included withdrawal from work (44.3%), relationships (24.5%), school (15.1%), and personal (6.6%) activities. These findings paint a complex picture of how gambling interferes with different life roles for some frequent gamblers, identifying important areas for future research and practice.     

Gambling attitudes and participation: A midwestern survey

In the last few years there has been a tremendous expansion of legalized gambling in the midwest. Multiple forms of gambling are now easily accessible. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of gambling in a midwestern state and to assess differences in gambling attitudes and behavior between men and women, in various income groups, living in rural and urban areas. In addition, because of the rapid increase in gambling in this region, respondents were also asked their opinions about legalized gambling. Results indicated that gambling was pervasive in all segments of this midwestern sample; however, men spent more than women and urban residents wagered more than rural residents. The poor spent a greater proportion of their income on gambling than those with middle incomes. Both the gamblers, and many of the non-gamblers, would like to see more gambling opportunities in their communities as most view gambling as a benign recreational activity. One in every ten that gambled, however, did report family problems related to gambling.     

Lessons from the Grey Area: A Closer Inspection of At-risk Gamblers

The study takes a closer look at at-risk gamblers, with the objective to see how they differ from no-risk gamblers. The data comes from a national gambling survey in 2002, and the age group is 15–74 years. The sample consists of 4188 current gamblers with no current gambling problems or pathology. The analysis includes cross-tabulations and a logistic regression. The results show that at-risk gamblers differed substantially from no-risk gamblers in terms of demographic characteristics, gambling behaviour and the presence of other assumed risk factors. Demographic segments with a higher risk of falling into the at-risk group are men, young people, divorced or single people, and non-western immigrants. Furthermore, gambling problems in the family, beginners luck and misconceptions about winning chances significantly increased the odds for at-risk gambling. The study concludes that at-risk gamblers deserve more attention from research, that their similarity with problem gamblers increases the likelihood that many of them will eventually develop a gambling problem, and that their tendency to be superstitious about winning chances might be exploited in preventive work.     

SELF-CONCEPT AS THE ORGANIZATION OF ROLES: Importance, Centrality, and Balance

Data from a set of middle-aged working men and women from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan area are used to explore three different ways that individuals organize their self-concepts and infuse personal significance into their roles. Five sets of findings include the following: (1) both men and women identify many of their roles as personally significant, especially work and family roles; (2) men tend to attribute more importance and centrality to the role of worker than do women, while women tend to assign greater importance and centrality to most other roles; (3) different combinations of importance, centrality, and balance influence worker, spouse, and parent role satisfaction and identity meanings; (4) worker role centrality tends to have negative effects on spouse and parent role satisfaction and identity meanings; and (5) worker role importance and spouse centrality have a positive influence on self-esteem while worker centrality has a negative impact on self-esteem. The findings suggest that importance, centrality, and balance appear to be independent dimensions of personal significance that individuals ascribe to their roles.     

Gender,polychronicity, and the work–family interface: is a preference for multitasking beneficial?

This study examined how polychronicity, or the preference to do several things concurrently, was related to work and family overload, work–family conflict, and outcomes in the work, family, and life domains (i.e. turnover intent, family, and life satisfaction). Using conservation of resources theory as a framework, polychronicity was conceptualized as a resource that could be used to reduce work and family overload. The participants were 553 employed parents from Canada and the US. Results indicated that polychronicity was related to lower work overload. Lower work overload was related to lower work interference with family conflict, lower turnover intent, and higher family and life satisfaction. We also examined gender differences and found that, although women scored significantly higher than men on family overload and family satisfaction, and significantly lower than men on life satisfaction, there was no mean gender difference on polychronicity. In addition, the path coefficients in the model were not significantly different for men and women.     

Do male and female gamblers have the same burden of adversity over their life course?

The objective of this research is to investigate gender difference and the burden of adversity during the life course of people who develop gambling problems. A sample of 86 adult participants met the criteria for at-risk problem gambling over the last 5 years. Data were obtained from informants during semi-structured face-to-face interviews, using SCID I and II, SOGS, Module K and a recount of life trajectories methodology. The results showed a high level of adversity throughout the life trajectories of the men and women studied. The results indicated that the major load of mental health disorders, the presence of anxiety disorders and co-morbid mental health disorders are more significant among women. Results also indicated a significant presence of violence in the lives of both men and women during early childhood and adolescence. During adulthood, women are more likely to be victims of intimate partner or marital violence whereas men tended to cumulate difficulties in social fields and especially in their professional lives. This significant burden of adversity creates a number of difficulties which makes it complicated to isolate gambling activities. Clinicians might have difficulty detecting female gamblers during consultation, especially when they present with co-morbid mental health disorders and violence issues.     

Work and Family Role Strain Among University Employees

This paper analyzes the determinants of work and family role strain among university employees with data from a survey of faculty and staff of a public university in the Western U.S. The results indicate that difficulties caring for children and elderly dependents are the primary causes of work and family role strain in the family domain, while dissatisfaction with resources and perceived unfair criticism are primary in the work domain. The predictors of work and family role strain are similar for faculty and staff, and for men and women, with one exception: Having a supportive spouse or partner reduces work and family role strain much more for women than it does for men. Implications for university personnel policy are discussed.     

Exercise Time: Gender Differences in the Effects of Marriage,Parenthood, and Employment

Using data from a supplement to the 1995 National Health Interview Survey, this article examines the relationship among three major work and family roles—marriage, parenthood, and employment—and time spent on exercise among American men and women ages 18 to 64 (N = 13,496). As the time availability perspective suggests, work and family roles curtail time for exercise. Married adults spend less time on exercising than unmarried adults. Although the number of children is not related to time spent on exercising, having children under age 5 is negatively associated with exercising. Long hours of employment are also related to less time spent on exercising, although the effect is small. Across the board, women spend less time on exercising than men, but the negative association of work and family roles, especially the role of spouse, with time for exercise is greater for men than for women.     

The Social and Psychological Impacts of Gambling in the Cree Communities of Northern Québec

A detailed survey of gambling, addiction and mental health was conducted with randomly selected respondents (n = 506) from four Cree communities of Northern Quebec. The study examined the current patterns of gambling in relation to demographic, social, and psychological factors. Instruments included the Canadian Problem Gambling Index, Addiction Severity Index, Beck Depression Inventory and the computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule for psychiatric diagnoses. Overall, 69.2 % of the total sample participated in any gambling/gaming activities over the past year; 20.6 % of this group were classified as moderate/high risk gamblers, and 3.2 % were classified in the highest “problem gambling” category. Considering the entire sample, the overall prevalence of problem gambling was 2.2 %. Women were significantly more likely to play bingo (56.6 %) compared to men (35.1 %) and they played more frequently; 20.8 % of women versus 3.8 % of men played once/week or more often. Compared to the no/low risk gamblers, a greater proportion of moderate/high risk gamblers were cigarette smokers (44.8 vs. 56.3 %), they were more likely to meet DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence (21.2 vs. 46.2 %), and they were more likely to report moderate to severe depressive symptoms in the past month. Risk factors for problem gambling included traumatic life events (physical and emotional abuse), anxiety and depression, as well as drug/alcohol abuse. The high rates of comorbidity between problem gambling, tobacco dependence, substance abuse and other psychological problems demonstrate that gambling among some Cree adults is part of a pattern of high-risk factors for negative long-term health consequences. The results also have implications for treatment, suggesting that interventions for gambling disorders should not focus on gambling alone but rather the constellation of high-risk behaviours that pose a risk to recovery and well-being.     

Family Relocation:

Family domestic relocations for the purpose of employment have increased and indications are that this will continue. Although there are various reasons for relocation which affect its influence, recent research on corporate moves suggests that there are unexplored discrepancies in the findings on how the two genders respond to the relocation. This paper will discuss these differences and will describe how professions unwittingly can contribute to mother and/or wife blaming within the context of family relocation. The results are evident in the literature which produces: (1) a focus on women's responsibility and accountability for the family, to the exclusion of men, and (2) a lack of awareness of the societally prescribed contexts of work and family life that can be oppressive to both women and men. This paper also suggests practice principles that will guide work with family member's adjustment to relocation and that will direct future research.     

Gendered experiences in midlife: Implications for age identity

Prior work reports that women maintain younger identities than men; however, few studies have explored factors that may produce gendered self-perceptions of age. Drawing on several theoretical streams, including perspectives on the self (e.g., situational identity, the self-enhancement principle, role-identities, and social identity) and the life course (e.g., linked lives), this study examines how gendered experiences in the domains of family, work, and health are related to gender differences in age identity. Data are drawn from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (n=2681). The results indicate that, compared with men, women have significantly worse health, lower levels of perceived control over their marriages/partnerships, a lesser likelihood of employment, and a greater likelihood of having older partners, all of which are associated with older identities. Controlling for these factors, women report significantly more youthful identities than men. The findings also suggest that, rather than acting as markers of one's age status, family and work roles influence age identity through the patterning of demands that individuals face and the sense of control they have over their lives.     

From attitudes to social networks: National gender-role attitudes and gender differences in late-life social relationships

Studies often find gender differences in social networks in later life, but are these findings universal, or do they differ in various cultural contexts? To address this research gap, the current study examines the association between gender differences in social relationships and country-level gender-role attitudes. We combined data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) of individuals aged 50 years and older with country-level data on gender-role attitudes from the European Values Survey (EVS) for 15 European countries. We estimated a series of multivariate hierarchical regression models that predicted the size of the personal social network, its emotional closeness, and the proportion of the spouse, children, and friends in the network. The results indicated gender differences in social network characteristics. Women reported larger social networks and were more likely to have larger proportions of children and friends but smaller proportions of the spouse in their social networks. The magnitude of gender differences was associated with country-level gender-role attitudes. In countries with more egalitarian gender-role attitudes, women had larger networks with a larger proportion of friends compared to men. In countries with more traditional gender-role attitudes, women had larger proportions of their children and spouse in their social networks and had emotionally closer networks. Our findings suggest that the societal context and opportunity structures for social interactions play an important role in shaping the structure of women’s and men’s social relationships in later life.     

Role Conflict and Self‐Efficacy Among Employed Parents: Examining Complex Statistical Interactions

In response to growing concerns with explaining how work and family interfere with each other and with statistical approaches that do not capture the way in which predictors interact, this study tested statistical interactions involving personal and social resources of 410 full‐time employed women and men. The results indicate that self‐efficacy is a strong predictor of family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF). Gender moderates the relation between supervisor support and WIF moderates the impact of efficacy beliefs and instrumental support at home on FIW. Specifically, while supervisor support is negatively related to WIF in women and men, high levels of support more strongly affected men's perceptions of WIF. In low self‐efficacy men, high levels of support at home improved their perceptions of FIW but these perceptions worsened in women. These findings contrast with earlier research that focus predominantly on the predictive value of structural demands (for example, the number of hours worked per week and family size). This study shows that gender plays a critical yet intricate role as a predictor of the successful management of work and family roles: it is not gender per se but its interaction with personal and social variables that informs us about differences in the experience of employed parents.     

A big hole with the wind blowing through it: Aboriginal women's experiences of trauma and problem gambling

Although studies have shown a link between social trauma and problem gambling (PG), there is little research involving Aboriginal women in this area, despite Aboriginal women being potentially at higher risk for both social trauma and problem gambling. This article describes the results of a qualitative phenomenology study asking seven Aboriginal women living in Western Canada to describe their experiences of social trauma and gambling problems. Results suggest four main themes, describing: (1) the Aboriginal women's experiences of social trauma (‘the three tigers’); (2) their use of gambling to cope with these experiences (‘a big hole with the wind blowing through it’); (3) their experience of problem gambling (‘I'm somebody today’); and (4) their process of healing from social trauma and gambling problems (‘a letter to John’). Participants described what they felt was a clear link between social trauma and problems with gambling, and how gambling helped to change their mood and block out the past. The results raise the possibility that Aboriginal women with gambling problems may need support to heal from social trauma – including racism and colonization – and that upstream initiatives to reduce the incidence of social traumas may be an important response to problem gambling among Aboriginal women.     

Passion for poker and the relationship with gambling problems: a cross-sectional study

Previous research has shown that poker players spend significant time, large amounts of money and have a high prevalence of gambling problems. While some studies have examined the association between gambling behaviours and passion, none have explored this association specifically among poker players. This study aims to examine the relationships between two types of passion (i.e. harmonious and obsessive) and severity of gambling problems among poker players. A sample of 159 poker players was recruited from across Quebec, Canada. The outcome variable of interest was participants’ scores on the Canadian Pathological Gambling Index and the predictive variable was the Gambling Passion Scale. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify independent risk factors of at-risk poker players. Severity of gambling problems is positively associated with obsessive passion (p < .05). However, harmonious passion is not associated with gambling problems. These results align with previous findings obtained for other gambling activities. Thus, passion could be considered a useful tool when approaching players to talk about risk-taking.     

Outcome of Minnesota's Gambling Treatment Programs

This study measured the outcome of four state-supported outpatient gambling treatment programs in Minnesota. The programs were developed specifically for the treatment of pathological gamblers and offered multiple modalities of treatment including individual, group, education, twelve-step work, family groups, and financial counseling. The therapeutic orientation was eclectic with an emphasis on the twelve steps of Gamblers Anonymous (GA) and a treatment goal of abstinence. The sample included 348 men and 220 women treated between January 1992 and January 1995. A pretest-posttest design was utilized with multidimensional assessments obtained at intake, discharge, six-months, and twelve-months post-discharge. Variables assessed included a range of clinical and outcome variables. At six month follow-up, 28% reported that they had abstained from gambling during the six months following discharge and an additional 20% had gambled less than once per month. Almost half of the sample (48%) showed clinically significant improvement in gambling frequency at six monthfollow-up. Outcome variables of gambling frequency, SOGS scores, amount of money gambled, number of friends who gamble, psychosocial problems, and number of financial problems, all showed statistically significant improvements from pretreatment to follow-up. The treatment programs yielded outcome results similar to those reported for alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs.     

Spousal Roles on Motivations for Entrepreneurship: A Qualitative Study in New Zealand

Little is known about the role the spouse plays in an entrepreneur’s motivations for entrepreneurship. A gender comparative qualitative study is presented, based on interviews with 68 entrepreneurs (45 men and 23 women) in New Zealand. A continuum of spousal support is described—those whose spouses are co-founders, supportive spouses, and unsupportive/ambivalent spouses. Findings show that women and men tend to have different expectations of their spouse when contemplating starting a business. A woman looks to her husband for business advice, for support, and encouragement and considers the effects that starting a business may have on her spouse. A man tends to assume support is forthcoming, and some men start businesses without explicit spousal support. Contributions to theories of family business are made.     

Gambling as an emerging health problem on campus

OBJECTIVE: The authors documented the prevalence of gambling and correlates to health among undergraduates. METHODS: The authors analyzed data from a health-habit questionnaire (gambling questions included) given to students enrolled in a university-required course. RESULTS: Gambling and problems with gambling were more frequent among men than women regardless of venue. Athletes more frequently bet on sports and played games of chance, had gambling debt, and sought help for gambling than did nonathletes. More than 50% of fraternity members gambled and had a higher prevalence of gambling debt than did other men. Several gambling practices were correlated with failure to use seatbelts, driving or riding with someone under the influence, and using drugs (including cigarettes). Twice as many students who had gambling problems reported considering or attempting suicide than did those who did not report gambling problems, and gambling was correlated with depression. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that gambling is correlated with high-risk health behaviors and indicates the need for intervention for college students with gambling problems.     

Influence of Work Place Sex Segregation on Family Life

The purpose of the article is to examine the influence of the sex structure, i.e., the proportion of men and women doing the same sort of work and having daily contacts, at work on family life. The data consists of mail responses by 692 married or cohabiting men and 667 women in 11 occupational groups in Southern Finland. The data was analyzed by using cross tabulations and path analysis. The results indicate that integration of men and women in paid work is sometimes problematic for the family. It is connected with work romances, involvement in work at the expense of the family, career competition between the spouses, and unhappiness in marriage. But women also profit from sex integration of work in their family life. As the husbands of women working with men participate in domestic work at home more than other husbands, these women often consider their marriages to be happy.