Caring at home and at work: is work always "good medicine" for women?
Caring at home and at work: is work always "good medicine" for women?
Objectives Previous research has claimed that work is "good medicine" for women, providing social support and reducing the effects of stress in the domestic sphere. However, many women are currently providing informal care for an older person while also going out to work. The study reported here examines the mental health of women caring for an older person at home and working in caring occupations, compared with noncarers involved in similar caring occupations, to see whether the combination of caring in both roles leads to greater mental health problems than caring in only one role. Follow-up analysis was used to examine changes in mental health over time. Method Questionnaire packs were sent to a matched group of 174 working carers and 174 working noncarers. Measures of care-related, work-related and other factors were included, as well as measures of mental health and positive affect. Results At both Time 1 and Time 2, carers in all occupations were significantly more likely to be suffering from mental health problems than noncarers (Time 1: χ= 4.505; df= 1;p <0.05; Time 2: χ=15.515; df= 1; p< 0.001). In examining nurses only, carers again recorded significantly worse mental health than noncarers (Time 1: χ = 4.749; df=1; p = 0.029; Time 2: χ = 9.242; df= 1; p< 0.005). Although carers reported a greater within-subjects increase than noncarers in mental health problems over time, this increase was not statistically significant. Conclusions Working carers reported worse mental health than working noncarers in all occupations, and nursing carers also reported worse mental health than nursing non-carers. These results are discussed in the context of multiple role theory.
108
Lyonette, Clare
ab018109-62fb-4943-97db-1b07f0cc591b
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
1 June 2004
Lyonette, Clare
ab018109-62fb-4943-97db-1b07f0cc591b
Yardley, Lucy
64be42c4-511d-484d-abaa-f8813452a22e
Lyonette, Clare and Yardley, Lucy
(2004)
Caring at home and at work: is work always "good medicine" for women?
Psychology and Health, 19 (SUPPL. 1), .
Abstract
Objectives Previous research has claimed that work is "good medicine" for women, providing social support and reducing the effects of stress in the domestic sphere. However, many women are currently providing informal care for an older person while also going out to work. The study reported here examines the mental health of women caring for an older person at home and working in caring occupations, compared with noncarers involved in similar caring occupations, to see whether the combination of caring in both roles leads to greater mental health problems than caring in only one role. Follow-up analysis was used to examine changes in mental health over time. Method Questionnaire packs were sent to a matched group of 174 working carers and 174 working noncarers. Measures of care-related, work-related and other factors were included, as well as measures of mental health and positive affect. Results At both Time 1 and Time 2, carers in all occupations were significantly more likely to be suffering from mental health problems than noncarers (Time 1: χ= 4.505; df= 1;p <0.05; Time 2: χ=15.515; df= 1; p< 0.001). In examining nurses only, carers again recorded significantly worse mental health than noncarers (Time 1: χ = 4.749; df=1; p = 0.029; Time 2: χ = 9.242; df= 1; p< 0.005). Although carers reported a greater within-subjects increase than noncarers in mental health problems over time, this increase was not statistically significant. Conclusions Working carers reported worse mental health than working noncarers in all occupations, and nursing carers also reported worse mental health than nursing non-carers. These results are discussed in the context of multiple role theory.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 1 June 2004
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 509372
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/509372
ISSN: 0887-0446
PURE UUID: 95ea73fe-5c2e-4fe1-a3ed-fabeab364be7
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 19 Feb 2026 17:50
Last modified: 21 Feb 2026 02:38
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Clare Lyonette
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
