Women, men, work, and family. An expansionist theory

The lives of women and men, the relationships that they establish, and their work have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, but the dominant theories driving research in these areas have not. In this article, the authors argue that the facts underlying the assumptions of the classical theories of gender and multiple roles have changed so radically as to make the theories obsolete. Moreover, a large body of empirical data fails to support the predictions flowing from these theories. Yet the development of new theory for guiding research and clinical practice has not kept pace. The authors attempt to fill this theoretical gap by reviewing the research literature and articulating an expansionist theory of gender, work, and family that includes four empirically derived and empirically testable principles better matched to today's realities.

Women, men, work, and family. An expansionist theory

The lives of women and men, the relationships that they establish, and their work have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, but the dominant theories driving research in these areas have not. In this article, the authors argue that the facts underlying the assumptions of the classical theories of gender and multiple roles have changed so radically as to make the theories obsolete. Moreover, a large body of empirical data fails to support the predictions flowing from these theories. Yet the development of new theory for guiding research and clinical practice has not kept pace. The authors attempt to fill this theoretical gap by reviewing the research literature and articulating an expansionist theory of gender, work, and family that includes four empirically derived and empirically testable principles better matched to today's realities.

Women, men, work, and family. An expansionist theory

The lives of women and men, the relationships that they establish, and their work have changed dramatically in the past 50 years, but the dominant theories driving research in these areas have not. In this article, the authors argue that the facts underlying the assumptions of the classical theories of gender and multiple roles have changed so radically as to make the theories obsolete. Moreover, a large body of empirical data fails to support the predictions flowing from these theories. Yet the development of new theory for guiding research and clinical practice has not kept pace. The authors attempt to fill this theoretical gap by reviewing the research literature and articulating an expansionist theory of gender, work, and family that includes four empirically derived and empirically testable principles better matched to today's realities.

A profile of cardiovascular disease in northern Ontario: public health planning implications

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in Northern Ontario and therefore considered an important issue. To this end, this paper examines CVD trends in Northern Ontario and the prevalence of known risk factors that give an insight into these trends. Ontario Health Survey 1990, Ontario Health Survey 1996, Canadian Institute for Health Information (1990-95) and Vital Statistics (1990-95) were examined. It was determined that CVD rates in Northern Ontario significantly exceeded those of the province. Further, high prevalence of modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, fat intake, physical inactivity and obesity are all experienced in Northern Ontario when compared to the province. Planning implications, as they relate to collaboration, delivery of services, determinants of health, multiple risk factors and monitoring and evaluation are also discussed.

Faculty perceptions of gender discrimination and sexual harassment in academic medicine

BACKGROUND

Gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment are common in medical practice and may be even more prevalent in academic medicine.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the prevalence of gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment among medical school faculty and the associations of gender-based discrimination with number of publications, career satisfaction, and perceptions of career advancement.

DESIGN

A self-administered mailed questionnaire of U.S. medical school faculty that covered a broad range of topics relating to academic life.

SETTING

24 randomly selected medical schools in the contiguous United States.

PARTICIPANTS

A random sample of 3332 full-time faculty, stratified by specialty, graduation cohort, and sex.

MEASUREMENTS

Prevalence of self-reported experiences of discrimination and harassment, number of peer-reviewed publications, career satisfaction, and perception of career advancement.

RESULTS

Female faculty were more than 2.5 times more likely than male faculty to perceive gender-based discrimination in the academic environment (P < 0.001). Among women, rates of reported discrimination ranged from 47% for the youngest faculty to 70% for the oldest faculty. Women who reported experiencing negative gender bias had similar productivity but lower career satisfaction scores than did other women (P< 0.001). About half of female faculty but few male faculty experienced some form of sexual harassment. These experiences were similarly prevalent across the institutions in the sample and in all regions of the United States. Female faculty who reported being sexually harassed perceived gender-specific bias in the academic environment more often than did other women (80% compared with 61 %) and more often reported experiencing gender bias in professional advancement (72% compared with 47%). Publications, career satisfaction, and professional confidence were not affected by sexual harassment, and self-assessed career advancement was only marginally lower for female faculty who had experienced sexual harassment (P = 0.06).

CONCLUSION

Despite substantial increases in the number of female faculty, reports of gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment remain common.

Fit as a mediator of the relationship between work hours and burnout

The authors studied number of hours worked and estimated its relationship to burnout in a nonrandom sample of 141 married physicians. It was hypothesized that this relationship is mediated by a process called fit, conceptualized as the extent to which workers realize the various components of their work-family strategies. Results of structural equation modeling supported the mediation hypothesis. Employees whose work hours are more or fewer than they and their partner prefer and whose work hours are distributed differently than they and their partner prefer will be more disengaged, distracted, and alienated at work than will their counterparts who are working their preferred schedules. Thus, the relationship between number of hours worked and burnout depends on the extent to which work schedules meet the needs of the worker, her or his partner, and their children, if any.

Fit as a mediator of the relationship between work hours and burnout

The authors studied number of hours worked and estimated its relationship to burnout in a nonrandom sample of 141 married physicians. It was hypothesized that this relationship is mediated by a process called fit, conceptualized as the extent to which workers realize the various components of their work-family strategies. Results of structural equation modeling supported the mediation hypothesis. Employees whose work hours are more or fewer than they and their partner prefer and whose work hours are distributed differently than they and their partner prefer will be more disengaged, distracted, and alienated at work than will their counterparts who are working their preferred schedules. Thus, the relationship between number of hours worked and burnout depends on the extent to which work schedules meet the needs of the worker, her or his partner, and their children, if any.

Negative affectivity: how serious a threat to self-report studies of psychological distress?

Serious questions have been raised about the common practice of relying on self-report measures to assess the relation between subjective role experiences on the one hand and both mental and physical health symptoms on the other. Such self-report measures may reflect a common underlying dimension of negative affectivity (NA), thereby leading to spurious results. In this article, we present findings from analyses in which we estimate, using a hierarchical linear model, the relation between subjective experiences in job and marital roles and self-reports of symptoms of psychological distress after controlling for NA in a sample of 300 full-time employed men and women in married couples. Results demonstrate (a) that NA can account for a great deal of the variation in self-reported psychological distress, as much as half in the case of the men in the sample; (b) that estimates of the relations between a self-reported predictor of social-role quality (e.g., marital-role quality, job-role quality) may be biased by failure to include NA as a predictor of self-reported psychological distress; (c) that the degree of bias in these estimates is dependent on the nature of the predictor, and (d) that the role of NA as a confounder does not appear to be dependent on gender.

Does child care involvement increase or decrease distress among dual-earner couples?

This study addressed how parents' relative involvement in child care is related to marital-role quality and psychological distress. These relationships were examined in a random sample of 133 mothers and fathers in dual-earner couples. Regression analyses employing hierarchical linear modeling techniques indicated that the more fathers participated in child care relative to their wives, the lower the father's distress. For mothers, the effect of child care involvement was complex: Although there were psychological benefits to spending proportionally more time involved in child care (lowered distress), these benefits were offset by a decrease in marital-role quality, which in turn increased distress. These findings indicate that the relation between child care involvement and the psychological health of both women and men in dual-earner couples is intertwined and complex.

Change in job conditions and change in psychological distress within couples: a study of crossover effects

In a random sample of 242 full-time employed men and women in dual-earner couples (N = 484), this study estimated the relations between (a) his experiences on the job over time and her distress over time and (b) her experiences on the job over time and his distress over time. In addition, we explored whether the crossover effects were due primarily to experiences with particular job conditions, and whether there were gender differences in the magnitude of these associations. The participants were interviewed 3 times over a 2-year period. After taking into account the relationship between each partner's own job conditions over time and her or his own psychological distress, there were significant associations between both the time-varying and the stable components of each partner's job conditions on the other partner's distress. The findings are discussed within the context of the need to expand the models used to study the job stress-illness relation to include longitudinal and within-couple crossover effects.

The psychological effects of work experiences and disagreements about gender role beliefs in dual-earner couples: a longitudinal study

Using an economically diverse random sample of 300 full-time employed men and women in dual-earner couples from two communities in the Northeast, we estimated the relation between the direction and magnitude of disagreement about gender role ideology (GRI) within couples and psychological distress. We conceptualized GRI within couples as both the couple mean or stable gender-role ideology (the "couple ideology") and as each partner's deviation from the other partner's score. Moreover, for each partner, we estimated the relation between both the stable (i.e., mean) component and the change (i.e., time-varying) component of GRI and distress. Finally, for each partner we estimated the moderating effect of GRI on the relation between job-role quality and distress. Findings are: (a) the more egalitarian the husband's average GRI is relative to his wife's, the less distressed he is; (b) if over time a wife's GRI becomes less egalitarian relative to her husband's, then her distress will be more affected by changes in her job-role quality; (c) for husbands, as the couple's average GRI becomes more egalitarian over time, the effect of job-role quality on distress is lessened; and (d) for a man in a couple with a more egalitarian stable GRI, the effects of change in job-role quality on distress are less pronounced than for a man in a couple with a less egalitarian stable GRI. Results are discussed in terms of new conceptions of GRI revealing the dynamic interaction of within-couples' gender-role ideologies.

Relation of family responsibilities and gender to the productivity and career satisfaction of medical faculty

BACKGROUND

Studies have found that female faculty publish less, have slower career progress, and generally have a more difficult time in academic careers than male faculty. The relation of family (dependent) responsibilities to gender and academic productivity is unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To describe dependent responsibilities by gender and to identify their relation to the aspirations, goals, rate of progress, academic productivity, and career satisfaction of male and female medical school faculty.

DESIGN

177-item survey questionnaire.

SETTING

24 randomly selected medical schools in the contiguous United States.

PARTICIPANTS

1979 respondents from a probability sample of full-time academic medical school faculty.

MEASUREMENTS

The main end point for measuring academic productivity was the total number of publications in refereed journals. Perceived career progress and career satisfaction were assessed by using Likert scales.

RESULTS

For both male and female faculty, more than 90% of time devoted to family responsibilities was spent on child care. Among faculty with children, women had greater obstacles to academic careers and less institutional support, including research funding from their institutions (46% compared with 57%; P < 0.001) and secretarial support (0.68 full-time equivalents compared with 0.83 full-time equivalents; P = 0.003), than men. Compared with men with children, women with children had fewer publications (18.3 compared with 29.3; P < 0.001), slower self-perceived career progress (2.6 compared with 3.1; P < 0.001), and lower career satisfaction (5.9 compared with 6.6; P < 0.001). However, no significant differences between the sexes were seen for faculty without children.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with female faculty without children and compared with men, female faculty with children face major obstacles in academic careers. Some of these obstacles can be easily modified (for example, by eliminating after-hours meetings and creating part-time career tracks). Medical schools should address these obstacles and provide support for faculty with children.

The changing workforce, job stress, and psychological distress

The change in the United States from a manufacturing economy to a service economy has important implications for theoretical models of the relationships between job characteristics and workers' psychological distress. A sample of 600 men and women employed full-time were recruited to test 2 theoretical models. The job demand-control model posits that jobs that are both high in job demands and low in decision latitude are associated with greater psychological distress. The job demand-service model posits that jobs that are high in job demands and low in service to others are associated with greater psychological distress. Results show that the job demand-control model is a significant predictor of psychological distress among employees in the manufacturing industry, whereas the job demand-service model is a significant predictor of psychological distress among employees in the services industries.

Junior faculty members' mentoring relationships and their professional development in U.S. medical schools

PURPOSE

To determine (1) the prevalence of mentoring relationships for U.S. medical school junior faculty; (2) the quality of these mentoring relationships; (3) any variation by gender or race; and (4) the relationship between mentoring and junior faculty members' perceptions of institutional professional support; research-, teaching-, and clinical-skills development; allocation of time to professional activities; and career satisfaction.

METHOD

In 1995 a 177-item survey was mailed to 3,013 full-time faculty at 24 randomly selected U.S. medical schools stratified on an area of medical specialization, graduation cohort, and gender. Mentoring was defined as "dynamic reciprocal relationship between an advanced career incumbent (the mentor) and a junior faculty member (the protégé) aimed at fostering the development of the junior person/protégé." Because mentoring is most crucial for junior faculty, the study focused on mentoring relationships within the previous three years ("recent mentoring") for faculty who were not full professors. Chisquare tests, analysis of variance, and principal-components analysis were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

In all, 1,808 (60%) of the 3,013 faculty surveyed, of whom 72% were junior faculty, returned completed questionaires. Fifty-four percent of the junior faculty had had a recent mentoring relationship. There was no significant difference between the men and the women faculty or between majority and minority faculty in the prevalence and quality of the mentoring relationships. The faculty with mentors rated their research preparation and research skills higher than did the faculty without mentors. Most of the women faculty (80%) and the minority faculty (86%) who had had mentors reported that it was not important to have a mentor of the same gender or minority group.

CONCLUSION

Mentoring relationships are prevalent in academic medicine and should be promoted to support the career growth of junior faculty.

Relationships of gender and career motivation to medical faculty members' production of academic publications

PURPOSE

To evaluate the relationships between both internal and external career-motivating factors and academic productivity (as measured by the total numbers of publications) among full-time medical faculty, and whether these relationships differ for men and women.

METHOD

In 1995 a 177-item survey was mailed to 3,013 full-time faculty at 24 randomly selected U.S. medical schools stratified on area of medical specialization, length of service, and gender. Two-tailed t-tests and regression analyses were used to study the data.

RESULTS

A total of 1,764 faculty were used in the final analyses. The women had published two thirds as many articles as had the men (mean, 24.2 vs. 37.8). Intrinsic and extrinsic career motivation were rated similarly (on a three-point scale) by the women and the men: intrinsic career motivation was rated higher (women's mean rating: 2.8, men's mean rating: 2.9) than was extrinsic career motivation (mean rating: 2.1 for both). The main findings of the regression analyses were (1) intrinsic career motivation was positively associated, and extrinsic career motivation was negatively associated, with the number of publications; (2) publication rates were higher for the men than for the women after controlling for career motivation; and (3) there was no significant effect of gender on these relationships.

CONCLUSION

The women faculty published less than did their men colleagues, but this difference cannot be accounted for by gender differences in career motivation. Further research on institutional support, family obligations, harassment, and other factors that could affect academic productivity is necessary to understand the gender difference in numbers of publications.

The changing workforce, job stress, and psychological distress

The change in the United States from a manufacturing economy to a service economy has important implications for theoretical models of the relationships between job characteristics and workers' psychological distress. A sample of 600 men and women employed full-time were recruited to test 2 theoretical models. The job demand-control model posits that jobs that are both high in job demands and low in decision latitude are associated with greater psychological distress. The job demand-service model posits that jobs that are high in job demands and low in service to others are associated with greater psychological distress. Results show that the job demand-control model is a significant predictor of psychological distress among employees in the manufacturing industry, whereas the job demand-service model is a significant predictor of psychological distress among employees in the services industries.

Virtual reality (VR) and psychotherapy: opportunities and challenges

Virtual reality technology is now being used to provide exposure and desensitization for a number of phobic conditions. In this paper, we first review these current applications and discuss the work needed to refine and expand these applications to phobias. We then comment briefly on some preliminary applications of VR technology to mental-health problems outside the domain of phobias. Finally, we consider ways in which VR might be used to further enhance psychotherapy and assist in the treatment of a wide variety of disorders. Various possible interventions are discussed, along with the technological developments needed to make them possible.

Change in job and marital experiences and change in psychological distress: a longitudinal study of dual-earner couples

Are changes in job quality more closely linked to changes in distress for men than for women? Conversely, are changes in marital quality more closely linked to changes in distress for women than for men? These questions were addressed in a longitudinal analysis of a random sample of 210 full-time employed dual-earner couples. Change over time in job role quality was significantly associated with change over time in distress, and the magnitude of the relationship differed little, if at all, by gender. In contrast, change over time in marital role quality was also associated with change in distress, but the magnitude of the association depended on gender. Among full-time employed married women, change in marital experience was more closely linked to change in distress than among their husbands.

Change in job and marital experiences and change in psychological distress: a longitudinal study of dual-earner couples

Are changes in job quality more closely linked to changes in distress for men than for women? Conversely, are changes in marital quality more closely linked to changes in distress for women than for men? These questions were addressed in a longitudinal analysis of a random sample of 210 full-time employed dual-earner couples. Change over time in job role quality was significantly associated with change over time in distress, and the magnitude of the relationship differed little, if at all, by gender. In contrast, change over time in marital role quality was also associated with change in distress, but the magnitude of the association depended on gender. Among full-time employed married women, change in marital experience was more closely linked to change in distress than among their husbands.

Men, family-role quality, job-role quality, and physical health

The relationship between the quality of men's family roles, as spouse and as parent, and the quality of men's job role, on the one hand, and their reports of physical symptoms, on the other, was examined in men drawn from a random sample of 300 dual-earner couples. The main effect of marital-role quality (i.e., rewards and concerns) on physical health was estimated, as was the Marital-Role Quality x Job-Role Quality interaction effect. With respect to the parent role, the effect of both parent-role occupancy and parent-role quality was estimated. After controlling for job-role quality, it was found that parent-role occupancy had neither main nor interactive effects. However, among the men who occupied all 3 roles (n = 180), only parent-role concerns were a significant predictor of physical health reports. Thus, concerns in the parent role are a major unmeasured source of variance in studies of the stress-illness relationship in men.

Gender and the relationship between job experiences and psychological distress: a study of dual-earner couples

This article examines the association between job role quality and psychological distress in a sample of 300 full-time employed dual-earner couples, controlling for such individual level variables as age, education, occupational prestige, and marital quality and for such couple level variables as length of marriage, parental status, and household income. The magnitude of this effect is compared for men and for women. Results indicate that job role quality is significantly negatively associated with psychological distress for women as well as for men and that the magnitude of the effect depends little, if at all, on gender, casting doubt on the widely held view that job experiences more significantly influence men's mental health states than women's. The results are discussed in the context of differentiating between sex differences and gender differences.

Men, family-role quality, job-role quality, and physical health

The relationship between the quality of men's family roles, as spouse and as parent, and the quality of men's job role, on the one hand, and their reports of physical symptoms, on the other, was examined in men drawn from a random sample of 300 dual-earner couples. The main effect of marital-role quality (i.e., rewards and concerns) on physical health was estimated, as was the Marital-Role Quality x Job-Role Quality interaction effect. With respect to the parent role, the effect of both parent-role occupancy and parent-role quality was estimated. After controlling for job-role quality, it was found that parent-role occupancy had neither main nor interactive effects. However, among the men who occupied all 3 roles (n = 180), only parent-role concerns were a significant predictor of physical health reports. Thus, concerns in the parent role are a major unmeasured source of variance in studies of the stress-illness relationship in men.

Positive-spillover effects from job to home: a closer look

What is the association between subjective experiences in two roles, employee and mother, and women's psychological distress? Previous research indicated that employed mothers with troubled mother-child relationships reported high levels of psychological distress, unless they were in rewarding jobs. In this paper, using data from the same sample of 228 employed mothers, we explored further the above finding by addressing two related questions: (1) which job rewards mitigate the relationship between parent-role quality and psychological distress?; and (2) which parental concerns are buffered by these stress mitigators? The main finding was that having a rewarding job per se did not automatically serve as a parent-stress mitigator. Although several job-reward factors (e.g., Helping Others at Work, Challenge), were associated with reports of low distress, Challenge was the only job-reward factor that mitigated parental stress. Thus, the previously reported positive-spillover effect from work to home was attributable to the presence of rewards from challenging work. However, Challenge buffers only particular parent concerns. For employed mothers, a job high in rewards from Challenge mitigates the distress associated with Disaffection (not Burden or Safety) in their relationships with their children.

Worker and mother roles, spillover effects, and psychological distress

This paper examines the relationship between the occupancy and quality of multiple-roles and psychological distress in a stratified random sample of 403 women employed as licensed practical nurses and social workers. We examined the main effects of the quality of the employee and parent roles and the interaction effects between these variables. Negative- and positive-spillover effects, from job to parenting and from parenting to job, were examined in an attempt to illuminate the processes by which multiple roles affect employed mothers' vulnerability or resilience to psychological distress. We found no negative-spillover effects from job to parenting or from parenting to job, but we did find positive-spillover effects from job to parenting. Women with rewarding jobs were protected from the negative mental-health effects of troubled relationships with their children. This protection accrued to employed mothers regardless of their partnership status or the age of their children. Although based on cross-sectional analyses, these findings suggest mechanisms by which employed mothers reap a mental-health advantage from multiple roles, even when some of those roles are stressful.

Job experiences over time, multiple roles, and women's mental health: a longitudinal study

Are changes over time in the quality of a woman's job associated with changes in her psychological distress? Do family roles moderate these relationships? We addressed these questions using longitudinal data from a 2-year 3-wave study of a stratified random sample of 403 employed women who varied in occupation, race, partnership, and parental status. After estimating individual rates of change for each woman on each of the predictors and the outcome, we modeled the relationships between family role occupancy and change in job-role quality on the one hand, and change in psychological distress on the other. Among single women and women without children, as job-role quality declined, levels of psychological distress increased. Among partnered women and women with children, change in job-role quality was unrelated to change in psychological distress.

Race, class and multiple role strains and gains among women employed in the service sector

Race and social class differences in the quality of job and parenting experiences, and multiple role gains and strains, are examined in a sample of 229 black and white female social workers and licensed practical nurses. Both race and class differences in job-role quality were found, but only class differences were found in parenting concerns. Race and class differences were found in multiple role gains and strains.

Job experiences over time, multiple roles, and women's mental health: A longitudinal study

Are changes over time in the quality of a woman's job associated with changes in her psychological distress? Do family roles moderate these relationships? We addressed these questions using longitudinal data from a 2-year 3-wave study of a stratified random sample of 403 employed women who varied in occupation, race, partnership, and parental status. After estimating individual rates of change for each woman on each of the predictors and the outcome, we modeled the relationships between family role occupancy and change in job-role quality on the one hand, and change in psychological distress on the other. Among single women and women without children, as job-role quality declined, levels of psychological distress increased. Among partnered women and women with children, change in job-role quality was unrelated to change in psychological distress.

Physical symptoms and the interplay of work and family roles

The paradigm underlying research on the relationship between work and physical-health symptoms in men has focused on workplace stressors and has ignored men's family roles. Research on women, work, and health suggests several necessary additions to this paradigm, including (a) a focus on job rewards and job concerns and (b) attention to the impact of family roles on the relationship between job rewards and concerns and physical health. We included these variables in a study of a disproportionate random sample of 403 employed 25- to 55-year-old women. Major findings are that (a) work rewards (e.g., helping others at work) are related to reports of low levels of physical symptoms; (b) work concerns (e.g., overload) are associated with reports of high levels of physical symptoms; (c) particular work rewards, which may be different for women than for men, mitigate the negative health effects of work concerns; (d) among employed mothers, satisfaction with salary is negatively related to physical-health symptoms; and (e) women in positive marriages or partnerships were more likely to reap physical-health benefits from the rewards of helping others at work and from supervisor support.

Consequences of fathers' participation in family work: parents' role strain and well-being

The relation of fathers' participation in family work (child care and home chores) to parents' role strain and well-being was examined in an interview study of 160 Caucasian middle-class fathers and mothers of kindergarten and fourth-grade children. In half of the families, mothers were employed. Four forms of paternal participation were examined. Role-strain items referred to immediate and specific problems such as time and energy constraints and role conflicts. Well-being measures assessed self-esteem, life satisfaction, and quality of experience in the parental and marital roles. Regression analyses, carried out separately for fathers and for mothers, indicated that, contrary to expectation, when the level of fathers' participation was controlled maternal employment did not condition the relation between participation and the outcome variables. Findings varied for the different forms of participation. For fathers, higher levels of participation were associated with feeling more involved and competent as a parent and with being more critical of wives' patterns and parenting. For mothers, those whose husbands were more participant praised their husbands' parenting, but they were lower in life satisfaction and were more self-critical about their balance of work and family responsibilities.

Fathers' participation in family work and children's sex-role attitudes

The relation between fathers' participation in family work (child care and home chores) and children's sex-role attitudes was examined in an interview study of 160 Caucasian middle-class families. Children were stratified by age level (5-year-olds and 10-year-olds), sex, and maternal employment status. 5 types of paternal participation were assessed--for example, total interaction time, performance of traditionally feminine home chores--using joint estimates by fathers and mothers. Children's attitudes were measured by questionnaire; their occupational aspirations were also assessed. Data are provided on the extent of fathers' participation for each of the 5 types assessed. The direct effects of paternal participation per se on children's attitudes were weak. Among fourth graders, mother's attitude toward the male role was the strongest predictor of stereotyping; children with nontraditional mothers were significantly less stereotyped.

Consequences of fathers' participation in family work: Parents' role strain and well-being

The relation of fathers' participation in family work (child care and home chores) to parents' role strain and well-being was examined in an interview study of 160 Caucasian middle-class fathers and mothers of kindergarten and fourth-grade children. In half of the families, mothers were employed. Four forms of paternal participation were examined. Role-strain items referred to immediate and specific problems such as time and energy constraints and role conflicts. Well-being measures assessed self-esteem, life satisfaction, and quality of experience in the parental and marital roles. Regression analyses, carried out separately for fathers and for mothers, indicated that, contrary to expectation, when the level of fathers' participation was controlled maternal employment did not condition the relation between participation and the outcome variables. Findings varied for the different forms of participation. For fathers, higher levels of participation were associated with feeling more involved and competent as a parent and with being more critical of wives' patterns and parenting. For mothers, those whose husbands were more participant praised their husbands' parenting, but they were lower in life satisfaction and were more self-critical about their balance of work and family responsibilities.

Women's involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress

Women's involvement in multiple roles was examined in relation to three stress indices: role overload, role conflict, and anxiety. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, effects of number of roles occupied; occupancy of the particular roles of paid worker, wife, and mother; and the quality of a woman's experience in her roles were analyzed. Data were from a disproportionate stratified random sample (N = 238) of Caucasian women between 35 and 55 years of age. For the total sample and for employed women, occupancy of the role of mother was related to two stress indices; occupancy of the role of paid worker was related to none. The quality of experience in the work and parental roles was a significant predictor of role overload; quality of parental role experience was a significant predictor of role conflict and of anxiety.

Women's involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress

Women's involvement in multiple roles was examined in relation to three stress indices: role overload, role conflict, and anxiety. Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, effects of number of roles occupied; occupancy of the particular roles of paid worker, wife, and mother; and the quality of a woman's experience in her roles were analyzed. Data were from a disproportionate stratified random sample (N = 238) of Caucasian women between 35 and 55 years of age. For the total sample and for employed women, occupancy of the role of mother was related to two stress indices; occupancy of the role of paid worker was related to none. The quality of experience in the work and parental roles was a significant predictor of role overload; quality of parental role experience was a significant predictor of role conflict and of anxiety.

Patient noncompliance with postvasectomy semen examination protocol

This study determined the degree of patient compliance with postvasectomy semen examination protocol for verbal instructions as compared with verbal augmented by written instructions. The addition of written instructions did not improve patient compliance, and for a significant majority of patients (68 to 76 percent) there was no laboratory verification of the effectiveness of the vasectomy procedure. Results of the study raise serious concerns about physician reliance on patient compliance for postvasectomy semen examination protocol as assurance of successful vasectomy. When the potential for fertility among vasectomized men is uncertain, the complication of an unwanted pregnancy will fall on the woman. Educating physicians in the problems and strategies for gaining patient compliance is as essential as education in competent surgical technique.

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Antagonism of cadmium and alloxan-induced hyperglycemia in rats by Trigonella foenum graecum

This study was stimulated by popular belief that Trigonella foenum graecum has antidiabetic activity in which the hypoglycemic effect has been confirmed by several investigators. However, the mode of action appears to be unclear. To gain some insight, the stems and leaves of the plant as well as the known active seeds were extracted at room temperature (ca 20 C) for three days with water or acetone and by soxhlet 70 C, and tested by oral administration to rats. Acetone and CC14 extracts before use, were evaporated below 30 C under vacuo, and the residue dissolved in distilled water containing Tween 80. Hypoglycemic activity of these extracts were tested on 20 hour fasted normal, alloxan and cadmium treated rats. The latter has been shown to cause hyperglycemia by releasing epinephrine in intact rats and inhibiting insulin release in the isolated perfused rat pancreas. Results showed that with seeds the CC14, soxhlet acetone extracts were inactive in normal animals as were the water and acetone extracts of stems and leaves. These observations may be compared with room temperature acetone extraction of seeds which exhibited what appeared to be dose related hypoglycemic effects. The hyperglycemia induced by cadmium or alloxan was antagonized by room temperature acetone seed or stem and leaves extracts. Tentative interpretation of the above results, are that Trigonella acetone extract appears to act, at least in part, at the cellular level to produce its hypoglycemic effects on normal rats or those as treated with cadmium or alloxan.

Implications and applications of recent research on feminine development

The traditional feminine role pattern is no longer adaptive and functional for many women, because of pressures for change associated with such components of the social climate as the lengthening life span and concern about the population explosion. It is no longer physically possible nor considered socially valuable to spend a lifetime bearing and rearing children, even for those women who desire to do so. Thus the prospect or actuality of defining one's life by the wife-and-mother role creates anxiety and anger, which is increased by the awareness that society pays only lip service to so-called "feminine" qualities and behaviors, reserving power and prestige for those who achieve high status in the world of work. Clearly women need alternate bases of gratification and identity. However, these involve interconnected changes that are often painful and that require understanding and support from others which has been slow in coming. The general purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that changes in the feminine role pattern are a matter of urgency and will be beneficial to both sexes.