Role Strain and Psychological Distress in Late Career Mothers

Abstract

Balancing a career and family is difficult for mothers of young children. The cumulative demands of multiple roles can result in role strain (i.e. role overload, interference from work to family, and interference from family to work) and psychological distress as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). One strategy used by women to overcome such difficulties is to delay having children until their careers are established. Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS; 1997) reflect this trend. Research by Higgins, Duxbury and Lee (1994) has suggested, contrary to previously held views, that late career women who are at peak visibility in their work roles, and who are also having children at this time, are at greater risk of role strain and psychological distress than early career mothers. The aim of this study is to examine work to family interference, family to work interference, role overload and psychological distress in early and late career mothers with pre-school aged children. Early and late career stages are defined using Levinson's (1986) model of adult development. Participants were 75 women with children aged 6 years and younger, sampled from 12 local day care centres, who completed a brief questionnaire examining role strain, psychological distress and career stage. The findings reported in this study found that late career mothers experience greater role strain and psychological distress than early career mothers.