hh.sePublications
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Associations between strain in domestic work and self-rated health: A study of employed women in Sweden
Social Medicine, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4773-1447
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Social Medicine, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Sweden.
2008 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, ISSN 1403-4948, E-ISSN 1651-1905, Vol. 36, no 1, p. 21-27Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse the association between strain in domestic work and self-rated health among employed women in Sweden, using two different methods of measuring strain in domestic work. Methods: Questionnaire data were collected on health and living conditions in paid and unpaid work for employed women (n=1,417), aged 17-64 years. "Domestic job strain" was an application of the demand-control model developed by Karasek and Theorell, and "Domestic work equity and marital satisfaction" was measured by questions on the division of and responsibility for domestic work and relationship with spouse/cohabiter. Self-rated health was measured using the SF-36 Health Survey. Associations were analysed by bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses, and reported as standardized regression coefficients. Results: Higher strain in domestic work was associated with lower self-rated health, also after controlling for potential confounders and according to both strain measures. "Domestic work equity and marital satisfaction" showed for example negative associations with mental health β -0.211 (p<0.001), vitality β -0.195 (p<0.001), social function -0.132 (p<0.01) and physical role β -0.115 (p<0.01). The highest associations between "Domestic job strain" and SF-36 were found for vitality β -0.156 (p<0.001), mental health β -0.123 (p<0.001). Conclusions: Strain in domestic work, including perceived inequity in the relationship and lack of a satisfactory relationship with a spouse/cohabiter, was associated with lower self-rated health in this cross-sectional study. Future research needs to address the specific importance of strain in domestic work as a contributory factor to women's ill-health.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
London: Sage Publications, 2008. Vol. 36, no 1, p. 21-27
Keywords [en]
Domestic work, Self-rated health, Strain, Women
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-21097DOI: 10.1177/1403494807085307ISI: 000253267700004PubMedID: 18426781Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-42449107304OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-21097DiVA, id: diva2:588172
Available from: 2013-01-15 Created: 2013-01-15 Last updated: 2018-03-22Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Domestic workload and multiple roles: epidemiological findings on health and sickness absence in women
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Domestic workload and multiple roles: epidemiological findings on health and sickness absence in women
2008 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Aim: The objective of this thesis was to analyse the importance of specific exposures in women’s lives to health and sickness absence; more precisely to study the association between domestic work, multiple roles and the experience of being sick-listed, and self-rated health, psychiatric disorders and sickness absence. Method: The thesis was based on two datasets. ‘Women’s health and living conditions’ (WHL) is a cross-sectional study on 1 417 employed women aged 17 to 64 years old. Data was collected with a questionnaire, and register and employee data on sickness absence. ‘Women and alcohol in Göteborg’ (WAG) is a prospective cohort study on 1 799 women in eight age cohorts born from 1925 to 1980. Data was collected with a screening questionnaire, interviews and register-based sickness absence. Several aspects of domestic work, multiple roles and experience of sickness absence were analysed in relation to self-rated health (SF-36), psychiatric disorders (DSM-III and IV) and sickness absence. The study on multiple roles emanated from the role strain and role enhancement hypotheses and roles were analysed as single roles and as combinations of roles. Changes in self-rated physical health were assessed in relation to experience of sickness absence over five year. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were conducted using multivariate regressions analyses. Results: Domestic job strain and a lack of domestic work equity and marital satisfaction were associated with lower self-rated health particularly vitality and mental health. The former was not associated to sickness absence, but the latter was. Women with domestic workload due to children and adults with special needs had higher odds for medium-long sick-leave spells, while parental responsibility gave lower odds for any sick-leave spell. Occupation was related to lower odds for poor self-rated physical health and sickness absence, while the parental role was associated with higher odds for sickness absence. Compared with women who had all three roles women with occupation and partner role had lower odds for negative health outcomes. Support was found for the role strain hypothesis in the cross-sectional analyses of role combinations while neither of the hypotheses was supported in the five year follow up. A lower proportion of those who had experience of being sick-listed reported good health at both baseline and follow up. Women with psychiatric disorders had higher odds for a change from poor to good self-rated physical health over the five years if they had been sick-listed. Conclusion: Domestic workload was associated to health and sickness absence in women, but there were inconsistencies in the findings on children and being a parent and on multiple roles. From a public health perspective, deeper knowledge on the importance of women’s engagement domestic work and its different dimensions is important for promoting women’s health. A multidimensional assessment of domestic work is important and the content and complexity of domestic work and of different roles needs to be further explored in relation to health and sickness absence in women.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Göteborg: Department of Public Health and Community Medicine/Social Medicine, Institute of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, 2008
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-21061 (URN)978-91-628-7559-6 (ISBN)
Public defence
2008-01-24, hörsal 2118, Arvid Wallgrens Backe 2, Göteborg, 09:00 (English)
Available from: 2013-01-16 Created: 2013-01-15 Last updated: 2018-03-22Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

No full text in DiVA

Other links

Publisher's full textPubMedScopus

Authority records

Staland Nyman, Carin

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Staland Nyman, Carin
In the same journal
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
pubmed
urn-nbn
Total: 192 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf