REDUCED-HOURS JOB-ROLE QUALITY AND LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG MARRIED WOMEN PHYSICIANS WITH CHILDREN

Interest in reduced-hours career options has been sparked by recent studies indicating an increase in the work week, especially among professional and managerial employees, a preference among all employees to reduce work hours substantially, and the perception that the absence of reduced-hours career options is an obstacle to professional advancement. Interest has also been fueled by the growing numbers of dual-earner couples whose ability to manage work/family demands might be facilitated by reduced-hours options. Yet, the belief that part-time work is associated with beneficial health effects has received scant empirical support. Building on prior research with full-time employees, we hypothesized that the quality of the experience of working reduced hours would better predict life satisfaction than would work hours per sc. This hypothesis, which we tested in a sample of female reduced-hours physicians with children in two-earner couples, was supported.     

DERIVED IDENTITY AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY IN WOMEN DIFFERING IN MARITAL AND EMPLOYMENT STATUS

Derived identity, defined as a sense of self that is overly influenced by and dependent upon relationships with significant others, and depressive symptomatology, measured by the CES-D scale, were assessed in a sample of 564 adult women classified into one of six marital-employment status groups: married professional, single professional, married nonprofessional, single nonprofessional, married nonemployed, and single nonemployed. Married women were found to report more derived identity than single women and when age effects were controlled, married women also had higher CES-D scores than single women. Employment status results in aggregate indicated that for women of equal education: (1) employment outside the home, whether it be professional or non-professional, is related to a more autonomous sense of self than nonemployment and (2) employment outside the home is not associated with lower CES-D scores than nonemployment. Derived identity and depression were also found to be significantly correlated within the total sample and within each marital-employment status group.     

STRESS, SOCIAL SUPPORT, AND HEALTH IN MARRIED PROFESSIONAL WOMEN WITH SMALL CHILDREN

Two hundred married professional women with small children were surveyed to investigate what types of occupational and role-conflict stresses are associated with physical and depressive symptoms, and whether social support could protect individuals from the negative health effects of stress. Six stress indices predicted physical and depressive symptoms, both Concurrently and 1 year later. These stresses reflected perceptions of lack of authority and influence on the job, sex discrimination, a heavy work load, work imposing on relaxation, family imposing on relaxation, and overall suffering from role conflict. Social support yielded no stress-buffering effects.     

ACCULTURATION, BODY IMAGE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND EATING-DISORDER SYMPTOMATOLOGY IN ADOLESCENT MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN

In this article the relationship among acculturation, body image, self-esteem, and eating disorder symptomatology in 120 Mexican American adolescent women was investigated. Surprisingly, acculturation levels were not related to anorexic or bulimic symptomatology, self-esteem, body dissatisfaction or thinness of ideal and attractive figures. Lower levels of self-esteem predicted higher levels of anorexic and bulimic symptomatology. Body mass was positively related to bulimic scores. In contrast to Lester and Petrie (1995), body dissatisfaction was significantly related to eating-disorder symptomatology. The high levels of disordered eating attitudes and behaviors found in this study suggest that rather than exclusively being an Anglo, middle-to upper-class phenomenon, eating-disordered behavior also exists within lower socioeconomic status Mexican American adolescent women.     

DIVISION OF HOUSEHOLD LABOR, STRAIN, AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AMONG MEXICAN AMERICANS AND NON-HISPANIC WHITES

This article presents preliminary tests of the hypothesis that household labor serves as a source of strain and is indirectly associated with depressive symptoms. It also examines associations of gender and Mexican-American ethnicity with housework, household strain, and depressed mood. Respondents are 668 Mexican Americans and 394 non-Hispanic whites. Because respondents are randomly selected community residents and are married, average strain and depressive symptom levels are low. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that housework affects depressed mood indirectly, through household strain. Among women, housework is associated with an increased likelihood of household strain, which, in turn, is associated with depressive symptoms. Among men, housework is unrelated to household strain, but household strain is associated with depressed mood. Although ethnicity and gender are associated with household division of labor, with more traditional patterns among Mexican Americans, ethnicity does not modify associations among housework, household strain, and depressive symptoms.     

ALCOHOL AND DATING RISK FACTORS FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT AMONG COLLEGE WOMEN

American societal norms frequently link alcohol, dating, and sexuality. This cross-sectional study examined the role of alcohol and dating risk factors for sexual assault among a representative sample of female students at a large urban university. Over half of the 1,160 women had experienced some form of sexual assault. Ninety-five percent of these assaults were committed by someone the woman knew and almost half of these assaults involved alcohol consumption by either the man, the woman, or both. Discriminant function analyses indicated that dating, sexual, and misperception experiences and alcohol consumption during these experiences predicted assault group status. Furthermore, alcohol consumption during consensual sex and sexual misperceptions were positively related to alcohol consumption during the sexual assault. The predictors of assault group status were similar for African American and Caucasian women. Theoretical implications are discussed and suggestions are made for combining alcohol and sexual assault prevention programming.     

FACTORS THAT AFFECT NONTRADITIONAL VOCATIONAL ENROLLMENT AMONG WOMEN

This study identified the internal (personality) and external (social support) factors that differentiate women who enter male-dominated (Nontraditional) vocational training programs from those who only consider entering such programs (Considereds) and from those who enter female-dominated (Traditional) programs. Four hundred seventy women who were enrolled in California vocational training programs and were stratified on both social class and type of vocational training site completed a self-administered questionnaire covering (1) demographic/family background, (2) social support/encouragement from others, (3) peer experience with nontraditional programs, and (4) personality and sex-role orientation results revealed that the student subgroups differed most significantly in the amount of support, encouragement, and discouragement they received from the important others in their lives. Nontraditional students differed from Traditional students primarily in the support of female friends and family members, and from Considereds in encouragement from school personnel Recommendations are made for steps that can be taken to foster equality of educational opportunity.     

EVALUATION OF A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF OBJECTIFICATION THEORY AND EATING DISORDER SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG EUROPEAN AMERICAN AND AFRICAN AMERICAN UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN

This study evaluated a structural equation model of objectification theory among European American (EA;  n  = 408) and African American women (AA;  n  = 233). Modeling results indicated a particularly strong association between thin-ideal internalization/body monitoring and eating disorder symptoms, with weaker relationships among body dissatisfaction, depression, anxiety, and eating disorder symptoms. The measurement model was not equivalent for EAs and AAs; however, the structural model was invariant, suggesting that the relationships among these variables may be similar for both groups. Thus, objectification theory does appear to be applicable to AA women, although specification of relevant constructs and refinement of assessment instruments is warranted.     

高中学生心理应激及其中介变量的研究

学生的心理应激与心理健康问题日益受到人们的关注。本研究对浙江省范围内的４３７名高中学生进行应激源、中介变量和应激反应方面的调查研究,并在此基础上,对高中学生的心理应激过程作了较详细的探讨。研究表明：（１）高中学生的主要应激源是学习压力及与家庭亲友的人际关系问题,（２）对高中学生的应激反应有影响的中介变量主要是社会支持和“问题解决”、“逃避”等应对策略。本研究结论认为,在高中学生的心理卫生工作中要注意减轻他们的学习压力,加强社会支持系统的建立及积极应对方式的教育。     

STIMULUS FACTORS EFFECTING PEER CONVERSATION AMONG INSTITUTIONALIZED RETARDED WOMEN1

The effect of a series of stimulus changes, including attendant present or absent and agent of token reinforcement in a sorting task, on peer interaction among retarded women was examined. Conversation was not differentially directed toward the agent of reinforcement when that agent was a peer, nor did a peer agent increase the overall rate of peer interaction. Peer interaction did increase when no attendant was present, and during the final phase of the experiment, the high rate of peer interaction was maintained while the attendant was faded back into the situation in a series of discrete steps. The procedure was found to be efficient in terms of staff time and did not adversely affect task performance.     

SOCIAL SUPPORT NETWORK DIFFERENTIALS AMONG MARRIED AND NONMARRIED BLACK FEMALES

Being married has generally been associated with better mental health for adult females, in part because of the social support derived from a primary network relationship. Without the benefit of a spouse, it would be expected that nonmarried adult females would have fewer sources of social support and concomitantly lower levels of psychological well-being. Focusing on selected network characteristics, this study analyzes the differences in social support available to a sample of 91 married and 183 nonmarried Black females residing in a metropolitan area. Results indicate that having a spouse has little influence on the number of socially supportive relationships or the most important sources of assistance with financial problems. A marital partner is a source of emotional support for married Black females, but only for less than one-third. Family members and extended kin are major sources of social support for Black females, irrespective of marital status.     

SILENCING THE SELF AND DEPRESSION AMONG WOMEN

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and provide normative data for the Silencing the Self Scale, a newly devised instrument for measuring cognitive schemas hypothesized to be related to depression in women. The study also tested the hypothesis that race would moderate the relationship between silencing the self and depression. The sample consisted of 80 women: 40 African Americans and 40 Caucasians. Controlling for income and socially desirable response bias, a significant relationship between silencing the self and depression was found only for Caucasian women. It was suggested that differing values and socialization practices may be responsible for the findings.     

AFFECT EXPRESSION, MARITAL SATISFACTION, AND STRESS REACTIVITY AMONG PREMENOPAUSAL WOMEN DURING A CONFLICTUAL MARITAL DISCUSSION

Relationships between women's affect expressions, marital satisfaction, and cardiovascular reactivity were investigated. Twenty-four healthy women and their spouses completed the Marital Satisfaction Inventory (MSI). Women's cardiovascular reactivity was monitored during a 10-minute videotaped husband-wife conflict discussion that later was rated for affect expressions. Regression analysis showed that active negative affect accounted for 20% of the variability in systolic blood pressure. Neither positive affects nor MSI Global Marital Distress was related to women's cardiovascular responses. For women, 53% of the variance in MSI Global Marital Distress was accounted for by total negative affect, but for men affects and marital distress were unrelated. Further research is warranted on the associations between marital distress, affect expression, and cardiovascular reactivity that may lead to physical and mental health problems.     

DIMENSIONS OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOCY IN MOTHERS OF YOUNG CHILDREN

Although mothers of young children have a higher incidence of depressive symptomatology than do either women who are not mothers or men, very little is known about the psychological nature of this phenomenon. This study examines the way in which psychological dimensions of family relationships are associated with or contribute to this increased risk in married Caucasian mothers raising first-born children. The relationships between maternal depressive symptomatology and recollections of parental relationships during childhood, marital satisfaction, and maternal separation anxiety were examined. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that these three factors explained 35.5% of the variance in maternal depressive symptomatology. These results, in addition to significant zero-order correlations, are discussed in light of the existing psychological literature.     

RESOURCE LOSS, RESOURCE GAIN, AND COMMUNAL COPING DURING PREGNANCY AMONG WOMEN WITH MULTIPLE ROLES

We investigated stress, coping, and employment status in 92, mostly European American pregnant women. Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1988, 1989) was applied as a specification of role-quality theory to examine the stressful influences of women's multiple roles. Women's resource loss predicted psychological distress better than either their resource gains or their employment status (i.e., multiple versus single roles). Full-time employed women were significantly more distressed under high loss conditions than were part-time or nonemployed women. Examining women's coping strategies based on a communal model of coping, we found that active, prosocial coping was associated with better emotional outcomes. A significant interaction was found for the effects of loss × cautious action such that loss was related to greater depression, but only among women who did not employ cautious action.     

MATHEMATICS ANXIETY AND SCIENCE CAREERS AMONG ABLE COLLEGE WOMEN

Abstract —Does mathematics anxiety deflect able students from pursuing scientific careers? We obtained the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores of 1,366 students entering Barnard College and also questioned them about their career interests and their feelings about mathematics learning At every level of mathematical skill, math anxiety correlated negatively with interest in scientific careers Contrariwise, quantitative SAT score was unrelated lo career interests, within relatively homogeneous categories of math anxiety or confidence Students were also asked directly whether the desire to avoid math affected their career choices The responses suggested a mediating role for math anxiety or confidence in career choice.     

SOCIAL INFLUENCE STRATEGIES AMONG JAPANESE AND AMERICAN COLLEGE WOMEN

Social influence strategies of 40 Japanese and 41 American college women were compared. With the use of a free-response format, respondents were asked to describe how they get their way with their mother, father, male teacher/boss, female teacher/boss, male friends, and female friends. Contrary to expectations, content analysis indicated that Japanese women reported using strong and neutral strategies more frequently and weak strategies less freguently than American women. American women used manipulation (especially sexual manipulation) more frequently and reasoning less frequently than Japanese women. Analyses by target of influence indicated that these differences were not found when the target was a female friend but were demonstrated across most of the other targets.     

TRANSFORMING THEORY AND RESEARCH WITH WOMEN

We look at some of the ways in which feminist theorists and researchers apply new insights to established topics in psychology, as they explore the landscape of the unknown and unspoken in the lives of girls and women. The articles in this special issue present research and reflections by a group of feminist scholars, some of us from the editorial board of the Psychology of Women Quarterly and others from the larger academic community. Each contributor, selecting from a personal interest or expertise, reconceptualizes a topical area of psychology with the intent of reframing our understanding of its meaning, its impact on women's functioning, and/or its application to feminist research and theory. To provide a background, we review a sample of contributions of feminist thought to the contemporary revolution in science. We then ask the question: In what ways have feminist perspectives and scholarship transformed psychology in the particular areas addressed by these authors?