Working mothers’ second shift, personal resources, and self-care

ABSTRACT

The stress of feeling rushed and busy are contemporary facts of life as evidenced by research on time pressure and overload. This is explained by conservation of resources theory which posits that when life demands (i.e. paid work, home/family work) excessively drain time and energy resources, stress can result. The purpose of this study was to examine working mothers as a population at risk for such stress, because in addition to paid work roles, most face a heavy second shift (i.e. home/family workload). Our path model tested hypothesized relationships pertaining to drained resources, opportunities for self-care and stress reduction, and well-being. Working mothers (440) completed web-based surveys and path analysis was used to fit the model. Findings showed mothers’ second shift was associated with fewer time and energy resources, and resource availability was associated with increased self-care behaviors and decreased stress. Self-care was associated with several well-being and work-related outcomes, and stress partially mediated some relationships between self-care and outcomes. Future research should further investigate the benefits of self-care for working mothers, including social and emotional forms of self-care, to develop and disseminate targeted interventions to improve their well-being.

RESUMEN

El estrés de sentirse apresurado y ocupado son hechos contemporáneos de la vida como lo demuestra la investigación sobre la presión del tiempo y sobrecarga. Esto se explica por la teoría de la conversación de los recursos que postula que cuando la vida exige (i.e. trabajo remunerado, casa, trabajo doméstico / familiar) un drenaje excesivo del tiempo y de los recursos de energía, puede resultar el estrés. El propósito de este estudio fue para examinar a las madres que trabajan como una población en riesgo de sufrir por el estrés, porque en adición a los roles de trabajo remunerado, la mayoría se enfrenta a un segundo turno pesado (i.e. casa/la carga de trabajo familiar domestico). Nuestro modelo de ruta probó relaciones hipotéticas relacionadas con los recursos agotados, las oportunidades para el cuidado personal y la reducción del estrés, y el bienestar. Las madres que trabajan (n = 440) completaron una encuesta basadas en la web y se utilizó el análisis de ruta para ajustar el modelo. Los resultados mostraron que el segundo turno de las madres’ fue asociado con menos tiempo y recursos de energía, y disponibilidad de recursos fue asociado con un mayor comportamiento de cuidado personal y una disminución del estrés. El cuidado personal fue asociado con unos varios resultados de bienestar y resultados relacionados al trabajo, y el estrés mediaba parcialmente algunas relaciones entre el cuidado personal y los resultados. Investigaciones en el futuro deberían investigar más a fondo los beneficios de cuidado personal para las madres trabajadoras, incluyendo las formas de cuidado personal social y emocional, para desarrollar y diseminar intervenciones específicas para mejorar su bienestar.

KEYWORDS:

• Working mothers
• self-care
• time
• energy
• work/family
• leisure

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Madres trabajadoras
• cuidado personal
• tiempo
• energía
• trabajo/familia
• tiempo libre

Acknowledgements

This manuscript is based on work carried out as part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Alicia G. Dugan, PhD, is an industrial-organizational psychologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at UConn Health and an investigator in the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW). Dr. Dugan’s research focuses on lifestyle practices that influence worker health as well as the contextual factors that affect these practices (i.e. work and family situations, time availability, and social support). Her goal is to help workers attain optimal well-being by using research to develop effective interventions and identify factors that determine the successful communication, uptake, and widespread use of evidence-based health interventions in real-world settings.

Janet L. Barnes-Farrell, PhD, is Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at the University of Connecticut and an investigator in the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace (CPH-NEW). Dr. Barnes-Farrell has been conducting research on issues related to our aging workforce for over 30 years. Her published work addresses topics ranging from age discrimination to retirement decision processes. Her current research centers on psychosocial aspects of work and aging and on the process and consequences of work-life balance for workers and organizations, with special emphasis on the work-life concerns of older workers.