Working‐Class Jobs and New Parents' Mental Health

Little research has explored linkages between work conditions and mental health in working‐class employed parents. The current study aims to address this gap, employing hierarchical linear modeling techniques to examine how levels of and changes in job autonomy, job urgency, supervisor support, and coworker support predicted parents' depressive symptoms in a sample of 113 dual‐earner couples interviewed five times across the transition to parenthood. Increases in job autonomy and decreases in job urgency predicted fewer depressive symptoms in fathers at 1 year postpartum. For mothers, coworker support predicted fewer depressive symptoms, and supervisor support mitigated the negative effects of job urgency on depressive symptoms. Higher work hours coupled with low job urgency predicted declines in mothers' depressive symptoms across the first year of parenthood. Our findings suggest that interventions that lead to greater autonomy, less job urgency, and more supportive work relations may enhance employee well‐being among working‐class families.     

No Fun Anymore: Leisure and Marital Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

This study examines changes in leisure patterns across the transition to parenthood for dual‐earner, working‐class couples, as well as the relationship between leisure and marital quality. To this end, 147 heterosexual couples were interviewed across the transition to parenthood. Findings indicate that during the transition to parenthood, husbands and wives experience an initial decline in leisure, followed by a gradual incline after the wife’s return to work. Overall, wives who reported more shared leisure prenatally also reported more marital love and less conflict 1 year later. Husbands with more independent leisure prenatally reported less love and more conflict 1 year later. Conclusions suggest leisure time is integral to well‐functioning marriages, with effects lasting throughout the first year of parenthood.     

Sexual and Relationship Satisfaction associated with Shifts in Dyadic Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms in German Couples across Four Years

Depression is a pervasive mental health concern; thus, it is important to identify modifiable factors associated with reducing depressive symptoms across time. Using 1,876 heterosexual couples assessed annually across 4 years from the Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (Pairfam) study, time‐varying covariate growth models tested if sexual and relationship satisfaction were linked with shifts in trajectories of depressive symptoms across time. For both men and women, higher sexual and relationship satisfaction scores were significantly associated with decreasing their own depressive symptom trajectories, but only relationship satisfaction was linked with their partners’ depressive symptom trajectories. Potential clinical implications include the treatment of depressive symptoms by making changes across time in their own relationship satisfaction and sexual satisfaction.     

Conflict Frequency and Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

Longitudinal data from 293 Dutch couples were used to examine the association between conflict frequency and relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, which is known as one of the most challenging events in the early stages of marriage. More frequent conflict during pregnancy was related to lower levels of relationship quality across the transition to parenthood, and lower levels of relationship quality during pregnancy were associated with more frequent conflict across the transition to parenthood. A comparison of two models showed that frequent conflict is more likely to be a determinant than a consequence of lower relationship quality. The results suggest a complicated but identifiable association between conflict frequency and relationship quality that may inform the development and modification of primary interventions targeting new parents.     

“What Happens at Home Does Not Necessarily Stay at Home”: The Relationship of Observed Negative Couple Interaction With Physical Health,Mental Health,and Work Satisfaction

Using data from a sample of 281 couples (the Flourishing Families data set), the authors tested a systemic theoretical model that examined the relationship among observed marital interaction, physical and mental health, and work satisfaction. The results showed that negative marital interaction was associated with significantly lower work satisfaction and poorer health for men. Higher negative marital interaction scores were significantly related to elevated depression scores for both women and men. For both men and women, negative couple interaction was associated with work satisfaction through depression and health. Overall, 34% of the variance in work satisfaction for men and 24% for the women was explained by the model. The results suggest that marriage‐to‐work spillover can be costly for families, organizations, and governments.     

Lesbian Couples’ Relationship Quality Across the Transition to Parenthood

The transition to parenthood is a time of stress for many couples. Most research on the transition to parenthood has been conducted with middle‐class, heterosexual couples. The current study uses multilevel modeling to examine predictors of change in relationship quality (love and conflict) during the transition to parenthood in 29 lesbian couples. Predictors included personality variables, work context variables, social context variables, and couple characteristics. Results suggest that personality and couple characteristics were important predictors of change in love, whereas personality and expected social support were salient predictors of change in conflict. The importance of research on this key life transition for lesbian couples is discussed.     

Unsociable Work? Nonstandard Work Schedules,Family Relationships,and Children’s Well‐Being

Many children live in families where one or both parents work evenings, nights, or weekends. Do these work schedules affect family relationships or well‐being? Using cross‐sectional survey data from dual‐earner Canadian families (N= 4,306) with children aged 2 – 11 years (N= 6,156), we compared families where parents worked standard weekday times with those where parents worked nonstandard schedules. Parents working nonstandard schedules reported worse family functioning, more depressive symptoms, and less effective parenting. Their children were also more likely to have social and emotional difficulties, and these associations were partially mediated through family relationships and parent well‐being. For some families, work in the 24‐hour economy may strain the well‐being of parents and children.     

Implications of Overwork and Overload for the Quality of Men's Family Relationships

This study examined the implications of men's long work hours and role overload for the quality of their relationships with their wives and their firstborn (M= 15 years) and secondborn adolescent offspring (M= 12.5 years) in a sample of 190 dual‐earner families. Holding constant men's occupational self‐direction and level of education, long hours were related to less time spent with the wife but were unrelated to spouses' love, perspective‐taking, or conflict; high levels of role overload consistently predicted less positive marital relationships. In contrast, the combination of long hours and high overload was consistently associated with less positive father‐adolescent relationships, a pattern that was similar for older and younger adolescents and for sons and daughters.     

Becoming a Parent and Relationship Satisfaction: A Longitudinal Dyadic Perspective

This study investigated the extent to which women's and men's relationship satisfaction within couples is similarly or differently affected by becoming a parent and the extent to which changes in work hours and hours spent on household labor affect a person's own and his or her spouse's relationship satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. The authors conducted longitudinal dyadic analyses, based on 12 waves of the British Household Panel Study (BHPS). They selected 689 couples who remained together during the period of observation and who were employed, childless, and living with their partner (of which 28% married) at the first moment of observation. The results revealed that relationship satisfaction of both members in a couple changed in tandem. Although work hours and household labor had some effect on people's own and their spouse's relationship satisfaction, these factors did not account for the U‐shaped relationship satisfaction pattern associated with the transition to parenthood.     

Work–home conflict and facilitation across four different family structures in Norway

The purpose of this study was to examine how work–home conflict and facilitation vary among people living in different family structures in Norway, here conceptualized as: two-parent families; single parents; childless couples; and singles. The study used data from a Norwegian study on occupational health (N=2414). We hypothesized that respondents living in two-parent families experience more work–home conflict and facilitation than others due to more complex role expectations. Similarly, we hypothesized that the effect of workload and autonomy on work–home conflict and facilitation would be stronger among this group. The results indicate that conflict between work and home life are more profound among those living in two-parent families and among single parents than among childless couples and singles. Work-to-home facilitation did not vary by family structure, whereas the childless couples reported more home-to-work facilitation. Furthermore, with a few exceptions the effects of workload and autonomy on work–home conflict and facilitation did not differ by family structure.     

Coping With Overload and Stress: Men and Women in Dual‐Earner Families

This study tested gender differences in a model positing relationships between work and family demands, overload, 4 coping mechanisms, and stress. The coping mechanisms were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between overload and stress. The sample consisted of 1,404 men and 1,623 women in dual‐earner families. Respondents relied on 2 coping strategies: scaling back and restructuring family roles. Men were more likely than women to respond to overload by scaling back and less likely to respond by work‐role restructuring. Coping by family‐role restructuring moderated the relationship between role overload and stress for both groups; however, the gender difference was not significant. Coping by work‐role restructuring moderated the relationship between overload and stress only for men.     

Gender,Spousal Caregiving,and Depression: Does Paid Work Matter?

Studies have shown that spousal caregiving leads to psychological distress, but few have analyzed the moderating effect of paid work. Using the 2000 to 2012 Health and Retirement Study and two‐stage least squares regression models, this study found that caregiving increased women's and men's depressive symptoms. Ordinary least squares models showed that caregiving had more adverse effects on women's mental health than on men's, but these differences were eliminated in two‐stage least squares models that accounted for the bidirectional effects of depression and caregiving. The current study also found that for women, part‐time work attenuated the depressive effect of spousal caregiving, whereas for men, part‐time work exacerbated it. These gender differences persisted even for intensive spousal caregivers. The authors suggest that caregiving women who work part‐time may benefit from work‐related resources. Caregiving men who work part‐time, however, may feel distressed, as their work–family experiences conflict with traditional gender norms.     

Gender Differences in the Effect of Job Characteristics on Work‐to‐Family Conflict in Japan: Application of the Job Demands‐Resources Model into Japanese Population1

This article uses the job demand‐resources (JD‐R) model to analyze the Japanese population and gender differences in work‐to‐family conflict in Japan. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme in 2015, the study addresses four main questions: (i) does the JD‐R model apply to the Japanese population? (ii) which gender is more likely to experience work‐to‐family conflict? (iii) does gender moderate the relationship between work‐related factors and work‐to‐family conflict? and (iv) do different factors predict work‐to‐family conflict between men and women? The findings show that the JD‐R model applies in part to the Japanese population, and women are more likely to experience a higher level of work‐to‐family conflict than men. There are also different factors predicting work‐to‐family conflict by gender, even though gender does not moderate the relationship between work‐related factors and work‐to‐family conflict. This article points out the peculiar Japanese social and cultural contexts that lead to gender differences in work‐to‐family conflict. It offers two solutions: (i) legal regulations to reduce working hours and the frequency of working on weekends to prevent work from intruding on family life; and (ii) changes to the work environment to make women workers more comfortable at work because of the male‐dominated workplace and Japanese culture on family gender roles in Japan.     

Work‐Family Enrichment and Conflict: Additive Effects,Buffering, or Balance?

We used data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS I) (N = 2,031) to compare three models of how work‐family conflict and enrichment might operate to predict well‐being (mental health, life satisfaction, affect balance, partner relationship quality). We found no support for a relative‐difference model in which the conflict‐enrichment balance predicted outcomes. In the work‐to‐family direction, the additive model fit best: Both work‐to‐family conflict and work‐to‐family enrichment were independently linked to outcomes. In the family‐to‐work direction, the interactive model fit best: Family‐to‐work enrichment buffered the negative outcomes ordinarily linked to family‐to‐work conflict. Enrichment is key because with the additive model, it contributed incremental explanatory power, and with the buffering model, it conditioned conflict‐outcome relationships. Work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work enrichment appeared particularly salient for well‐being.     

In the Face of Conflict: Work‐Life Conflict and Desired Work Hour Adjustments

This study helps integrate the work‐life and work hours literatures by examining competing predictions about the relationship between work‐life conflict and the desire for paid work. Using data from the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce (N =2,178), I find that work‐life conflict makes women want to decrease the number of hours they work whether the conflict originates at home or at work. Men only want to decrease their hours when work‐life conflict originates at work, and some men facing frequent conflict actually want to increase their hours. I also find that having children does not increase the likelihood of wanting to work fewer hours but having a higher income does.     

Migration Decisions Within Dual‐Earner Partnerships: A Test of Bargaining Theory

This article focuses on the problems faced by dual‐earner partnerships arising from the regional coordination of the partners' careers. It is still unknown whether the fact that couples are less mobile than singles is caused by homogeneous preferences within couples or by a process of balancing conflicting interests. Consequently, we analyze the potential conflicts provoked by work‐related migration incentives. We test hypotheses derived from bargaining theory using quasi‐experimental data from a factorial survey of nearly 280 European couples. Our results support the bargaining approach and confirm that asymmetrical shifts in bargaining power drive the potential for conflict. Women's willingness to move is generally less than men's, but the impact of employment prospects differs only slightly by gender.     

Childhood depression and spirituality: Insights for spiritually sensitive child-centred social work interventions

Based on a one-year longitudinal study of 1,769 children from schools across countries diagnosed with depressive symptoms, this randomized, controlled, trial-based research has investigated the influences and impact on childhood depression of two kinds of spiritual programs, customized and open-ended. Results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and t-test showed that children had lower scores on depression scales and higher scores on the happiness scale post-intervention. Results of the logistic regression analysis and structural equation models specifically highlighted that boys, Christians, children from the middle class, and those who underwent the customized spiritual program were more likely to exhibit lower depressive symptoms and greater happiness, post-intervention. The implications of these findings for social work with depressed children have been discussed.     

Randomized Controlled Trial of the Marriage Checkup: Depression Outcomes

The association between relationship functioning and depressive symptoms is well established. This study examined the effects of the Marriage Checkup, a brief two-session Assessment and Feedback relationship intervention, on depressive symptoms. Two hundred and nine married couples participated in the Marriage Checkup and were randomized into Treatment (N = 108) and Waitlist-Control Conditions (N = 101). Compared to the control condition, intervention participants reported significant improvements in depressive symptoms (d = 0.55), with an even greater effect for those who were reporting more severe baseline depression symptoms (d = 0.67). These outcomes are comparable to those within long-term individual psychotherapy, couple therapy, and pharmacology trials, making this the briefest intervention to date to demonstrate significant improvements in depressive symptoms. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Linkages Between Parents’ Differential Treatment,Youth Depressive Symptoms,and Sibling Relationships

We tested social comparison predictions about cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between parents’ differential treatment of siblings and both youth depressive symptoms and sibling relationship qualities from middle childhood to late adolescence, controlling for dyadic parent‐child relationships and siblings’ ratings of parents’ fairness. Participants were parents and first‐ and second‐borns (M= 11.8 and 9.2 years old at Year 1) from 201 White, middle/working‐class families. Three‐level models revealed both cross‐sectional and longitudinal linkages between differential treatment and outcomes. For example, youth whose parent‐child relationships decreased in warmth relative to those of their sibling reported increases in depressive symptoms and decreases in sibling warmth. Gender and age moderated differential treatment‐depressive symptoms associations; birth order moderated differential treatment‐sibling relationship associations.     

Mothers' Differentiation and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Children

Parents' differentiation has been linked to negative psychological and behavioral outcomes in children, adolescents, and young adults. This line of research, however, has not been extended to families in later life. In this article, we use data from 671 mother‐child dyads in 275 families in the greater Boston area to explore whether mothers' differentiation among their children is related to psychological well‐being among offspring. We examined actual and perceived maternal differentiation in the domains of closeness, expectations for care, and conflict. We hypothesized that depressive symptoms would be higher when mothers differentiated among their children and when adult children perceived differentiation. Although the specific patterns varied somewhat by mothers' and children's reports, the findings indicated that, across all 3 domains, maternal differentiation was related to higher depression scores.