Partners’ overwork and individuals’ wellbeing and experienced relationship quality

ABSTRACT

In this paper, using high quality data from the Work, Family, and Health Network in a sample of IT workers in the US (N = 590), we examine whether partners’ long work hours are associated with individuals’ perceived stress, time adequacy with partner, and relationship quality, and whether these relationships vary by gender. In addition, following the marital stress model, we investigate whether any negative correlation between partners’ long work hours and relationship quality is mediated by time adequacy or perceived stress. We find that women partnered to men who work long hours (50 or more hours per week) have significantly higher perceived stress and significantly lower time adequacy and relationship quality compared to women partnered to men who work a standard full-time work week (35–49 hours). Further, the increased stress associated with being partnered to a man who overworks, not lower time adequacy, mediates the negative relationship between overwork and relationship quality. Conversely, we find that men partnered to women who work long hours report no differences in stress, time adequacy, or relationship quality than men who are partnered to women who work a standard full-time work week.

RESUMEN

En este trabajo, utilizando datos de la Red de Trabajo, Familia y Salud en una muestra de trabajadores de TI en los Estados Unidos (N = 590), examinamos si las largas horas de trabajo de las parejas están asociadas con el estrés percibido por las personas, la adecuación temporal con la pareja y la calidad de la relación y si estas relaciones varían según el género. Además, siguiendo el modelo de estrés marital, investigamos si cualquier correlación negativa entre las horas largas de trabajo de los compañeros y la calidad de la relación está mediada por la suficiencia temporal o el estrés percibido. Encontramos que las mujeres asociadas a hombres que trabajan largas horas (50 o más horas a la semana) tienen un estrés perceptiblemente mayor y una calidad de relación y una calidad significativamente más bajas en comparación con las mujeres asociadas a hombres que trabajan una semana estándar de trabajo a jornada completa (35–49 h). Además, el aumento del estrés asociado con la asociación con un hombre que trabaja en exceso, no una menor adecuación temporal, media la relación negativa entre el exceso de trabajo y la calidad de la relación. A la inversa, encontramos que los hombres se asociaron a mujeres que trabajan largas horas y no reportan diferencias en el estrés, la adecuación temporal o la calidad de la relación que los hombres que se asocian con las mujeres que trabajan una semana estándar de trabajo a tiempo completo.

KEYWORDS:

• Dual-earner
• work hours
• wellbeing
• work-family balance
• multiple roles

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Doble-Ganador
• Horas de Trabajo
• Bienestar
• Equilibrio Familiar de Trabajo
• Roles Múltiples

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as part of the Work, Family & Health Network (www.WorkFamilyHealthNetwork.org), comprising eight research organizations that conduct studies on how to improve the health of workers and their families and reduce work–family conflict, while also benefiting the organizations they work for.

Disclosure statement

Dr. Buxton has received two investigator-initiated grants from Sepracor Inc. (now Sunovion; ESRC-0004 and ESRC-0977, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers NCT00555750, NCT00900159), and two investigator-initiated grants from Cephalon Inc (now Teva; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00895570). Dr. Buxton received Speaker’s Bureau, CME and non-CME lecture honoraria and an unrestricted educational grant from Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. Dr. Buxton served as a consultant and expert witness for Dinsmore LLC, served on the Scientific Advisory Board of Matsutani America, and received consulting fees from the Wake Forest University Medical Center (NC). Dr. Buxton received speaking fees and/or travel support for speaking from American Academy of Craniofacial Pain, NHLBI, NIDDK, National Postdoctoral Association, Oklahoma State University, Oregon Health Sciences University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, American Diabetes Association, and New York University.

Notes on contributors

Emily Fitzgibbons Shafer, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Portland State University.

Erin L. Kelly, PhD, is a sociologist, professor of Work and Organization Studies, and faculty affiliate at the Institute for Work and Employment Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Orfeu Buxton, PhD, is Associate Professor, Department of Biobehavioral Health, Pennsylvania State University; Lecturer on Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Associate Neuroscientist, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Adjunct Associate Professor, Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

Lisa F. Berkman, PhD, is Thomas D. Cabot Professor of public policy, epidemiology and global and population health and Director of The Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.

Additional information

Funding

The study is funded by a cooperative agreement through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [grant # U01HD051217, U01HD051218, U01HD051256, U01HD051276], National Institute on Aging [grant # U01AG027669], the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute [R01HL107240], Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [grant # U01OH008788, U01HD059773]. Grants from the William T. Grant Foundation, Alfred P Sloan Foundation, and the Administration for Children and Families have provided additional funding. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of these institutes and offices.