Wives' Shift Work Schedules and Husbands' and Wives' Well-Being in Dual-Earner Couples With Children: A Within-Couple Analysis
Rosalind Chait Barnett1*,
Karen C. Gareis1,
and
Robert T. Brennan2
1 Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
2 Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rbarnett{at}brandeis.edu.
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Abstract |
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In a sample of 55 dual-earner families with children aged 8 to 14 in which the mothers are registered nurses regularly working either day shifts (typically 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.) or evening shifts (typically 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.), we estimated the within-couple relationship between the wife’s work variables (i.e., work shift, work hours, and the interaction between work shift and work hours) and each spouse’s work–family conflict, psychological distress, and marital-role quality. Wives’ work variables predicted their own work–family conflict and psychological distress and showed a trend to predict their husbands’ work–family conflict.
