Role Occupancy and Role-Specific Stress and Social Support as Predictors of Depression

Abstract

Occupying multiple social roles such as spouse or employee is associated with low levels of depressive symptoms. It has been hypothesized that the relationship of role occupancy to depression depends on the content of the roles an individual occupies. This study tested the hypothesis that whereas role occupancy explains some variability in depression, the content of the relevant roles accounts for additional variability. Role content was operationalized as role-specific stress and social support. Respondents were 1,294 randomly selected non-Hispanic White adults. A multiple regression analysis indicated that being married and being employed were associated with decreased depression. A stratified multiple regression model indicated that when marital and employment status were held constant, employment strain, supervisor support, and marital support were associated with depressive symptoms. Tests of interaction terms indicated that stress and support in one role are associated with depression, regardless of occupancy of the other role. The unemployed reported more depression than the employed, regardless of stress or social support levels among the employed. Respondents with high marital support reported less depression than those with low marital support and the unmarried, who did not differ from each other. These results are consistent with the hypotheses concerning the importance of role content.