Doing and Undoing Gender in Commuter Marriages

Much recent literature has focused on how women and men “do” (and potentially “undo”) gender when juggling home and work responsibilities. Commuter marriages—in which dual-income professionals live apart due to the demands of their jobs—present a strategic context in which to investigate these gendered processes. Drawing upon theoretical work on doing and undoing gender, prior literature about gender dynamics at the nexus of home and work, and data from in-depth interviews with 97 other-sex commuter spouses, this analysis finds that in some ways these nontraditional arrangements are unique sites for undoing gender; yet, in other respects, standard gender roles are crystallized within these relationships. Specifically, for some women, these arrangements provide a respite from domestic demands, enabling them to function as hyper-productive, “masculinized” workers. However, commuter spouses also perform gender in ways that replicate the conventional gender structure. For example, living apart crystallizes many women’s roles as caregivers. These findings have implications for broader literature on gender, family, and work. They also have implications for counselors, institutional practices, and social policy; for instance, they caution against equating female autonomy with gender parity in making family policy.     

Current suicide ideation and prior suicide attempts of bipolar patients as influences on caregiver burden

We examined whether caregivers of bipolar patients reporting current suicidal ideation and/or a history of a suicide attempt reported higher levels of burden and/or poorer health compared to caregivers of patients without these suicidality indices. In a cross-sectional design, caregivers (N = 480) associated with (a) patients with current suicidal ideation or (b) patients with a positive lifetime history of at least one suicide attempt, reported lower general health scores than caregivers associated with patients with neither of these indices. Parents of patients with at least one lifetime attempt reported more burden secondary to role dysfunction than spouses. Levels of depression in caregivers varied with whether the caregiver was a spouse or a parent, and whether patients had a history of suicide attempts, current suicidal ideation, or both.     

Posttraumatic Growth and Subjective Well-Being among Caregivers of Chronic Patients: A Preliminary Study

This preliminary study focused on positive phenomena among Israeli family caregivers (spouse, adult child, or parent) of patients with chronic illness hospitalized in a medical rehabilitation hospital. We investigated these caregivers’ posttraumatic growth (PTG) and subjective well-being (positive and negative emotions, life satisfaction), and their associations with the demographic and illness characteristics of the caregivers and patients, respectively. Participants included 74 adult primary caregivers: 28 were the patient’s spouse; 21 were the patient’s child; and 25 were the patient’s parent. Caregivers completed four self-report questionnaires. No significant association emerged between caregivers’ PTG and their negative affect or life satisfaction. Nevertheless, caregivers’ positive affect correlated with their PTG and also predicted it. Moreover, different patterns emerged for the caregiver subgroups (spouse, adult child, or parent): Patients’ children reported lower negative affect and greater life satisfaction than patients’ parents or spouses. Various explanations were discussed, alongside implications for giving recognition and assistance from the medical system to patients’ caregivers.     

Factor Structure of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale (CES–D) Among Older Men and Women Who Provide Care to Persons with Dementia

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies–Depression Scale (CES–D) is among the most widely used depression screening measures. Existing research suggests a higher order factor structure of responses among older adults (factors labeled as Depressive Affect, Absence of Well-being, Somatic Symptoms, and Interpersonal Affect each loading on a 2nd-order depression factor). This study extended this research to ascertain whether this structure is equivalent (or invariant) between men and women. Findings suggest that the number and relative contribution of each factor is similar for male and female caregivers of persons with dementia. Furthermore, interpretation of CES–D items is statistically indistinguishable for 17 of 20 items across gender within this randomly identified, national sample of respondents. Results of this study support the higher order factor structure of the CES–D and provide data in support of the concurrent validity and reliability of responses within a population at elevated risk for depression.     

Development of the emotional self-disclosure scale

The Emotional Self-Disclosure Scale (ESDS) was developed to assess how willing people are to discuss specific emotions with different disclosure recipients. Internal reliabilities (Cronbach's alpha) and test-retest were consistently high for each of the subscales on the ESDS for three specific disclosure recipients: female friends, male friends, and spouses/lovers. A final set of results indicated that women's and men's emotional disclosures varied as a function of their gender and the personal characteristics of the disclosure recipient. Although men and women reported a similar pattern of willingness to discuss their emotions with their male friends, additional results revealed that women were more willing than men to disclose information about their feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, and fear to their female friends and spouses/lovers. The implications of these findings for men's and women's emotional expressivity are discussed.Portions of this paper were presented at the 33rd annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 1987.     

An interpersonal perspective on depression: the role of marital adjustment, conflict communication, attributions, and attachment within a clinical sample

Previous studies have focused on the difficulties in psychosocial functioning in depressed persons, underscoring the distress experienced by both spouses. We selected conflict communication, attribution, and attachment as important domains of depression in the context of marital adjustment, and we analyzed two hypotheses in one single study. First, we analyzed whether a clinical sample of couples with a depressed patient would differ significantly from a control group on these variables. Second, we explored to what degree these variables mediate/moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and marital adjustment. The perspectives of both spouses were taken into account, as well as gender differences. In total, 69 clinical and 69 control couples were recruited, and a series of multivariate analyses of variance and regression analyses were conducted to test both hypotheses. Results indicated that both patients and their partners reported less marital adjustment associated with more negative perceptions on conflict communication, causal attributions, and insecure attachment. In addition, conflict communication and causal attributions were significant mediators of the association between depressive symptoms and marital adjustment for both depressed men and women, and causal attributions also moderated this link. Ambivalent attachment was a significant mediator only for the female identified patients. Several sex differences and clinical implications are discussed.     

The Caregivers' Attachment and Relationship Education Class: A New and Promising Group Therapy for Caregivers of Individuals with Parkinson's Disease

The authors examined whether a newly developed group therapy, based on principles of attachment theory and emotionally focused couples therapy, can potentially address the unique mental health and relationship difficulties in caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's disease. A comprehensive outreach effort, involving a review of 251 military veterans' medical records, yielded enrollment of seven spousal caregivers in the group therapy. At 1-month follow-up, caregivers who initially reported mild or greater levels of caregiver burden demonstrated statistically reliable declines in psychological distress, relationship distress, or both. Posttreatment surveys indicated positive perceptions in overall helpfulness of treatment goals, as well as positive changes in insight (e.g., greater understanding of the patient's attachment needs) and behaviors (e.g., greater social contact and self-care of the caregiver). Results are considered in the context of inadequate access to treatment for caregivers of spouses with Parkinson's disease or other major medical issues.     

Latent growth models of the longitudinal effects of dementia caregiving: a comparison of African American and White family caregivers

Self-report measures of depression, physical health symptoms, and life satisfaction were collected over a 2-year period from 197 family caregivers of dementia patients and 218 noncaregivers (controls). Latent growth models were used to compare changes across time for African American and White caregivers, with gender, age, and socioeconomic status serving as covariates. Results indicated that White caregivers sustained higher levels of elevated depression and decreasing life satisfaction over time compared with African American caregivers. Both groups of caregivers reported increases in physical symptoms over time. These results indicate worsening difficulties over time for many White caregivers. African American caregivers show more resilience on measures of depression and life satisfaction but are still vulnerable to increases in physical symptoms over time. Implications for additional research and clinical intervention are discussed.     

Chronic Sorrow in Caregiving Spouses of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

The article focuses on the concept of chronic sorrow in a sample of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and their caregiving spouses. A study was designed to determine the long-term grief or chronic sorrow that develops in caregiving spouses and to increase knowledge of the nature of chronic sorrow. Utilizing the Burke Nursing Consortium for Research on Chronic Sorrow questionnaire and Lindgren's (1996) study as a prototype, the author discovered that repetitive feelings of sorrow and distress appear in caregivers when major disruptive changes occur in their lives due to the persistent demands caused by the illness. Continual coping skills are needed to keep caregivers from being mentally, emotionally, and physically depleted. The findings of this study are consistent with Lindgren's 1996 study of chronic sorrow in persons with Parkinson's disease.     

Relationship quality and potentially harmful behaviors by spousal caregivers: how we were then, how we are now. The Family Relationships in Late Life Project

Structured interview data from 142 caregivers (98 wives, 44 husbands) indicate that more depressed caregivers are more likely to treat their spouses in potentially harmful ways. However, consistent with hypotheses derived from communal relationships theory, when the preillness relationship between caregiver and care recipient was characterized by mutual responsiveness to each other's needs (i.e., was more communal), caregivers were less depressed and less frequently engaged in potentially harmful behaviors. These effects were not attributable to demographic factors, amount of care provided, care recipient dementia status, or length of time in the caregiving role. Rather, multivariate analyses suggest that the extent to which premorbid relationships were communal in nature determines whether caregivers perceive their current relationships as rewarding, which, in turn, predicts caregiver depression and potentially harmful behaviors.     

Caregiver Attributions for Late‐Life Depression and Their Associations with Caregiver Burden

Late‐life depression (LLD) has detrimental effects on family caregivers that may be compounded when caregivers believe that depressive behaviors are volitional or within the patient's capacity to control. In this study we examined three person‐centered caregiver attributions that place responsibility for LLD on the patient (i.e., character, controllability, and intention), and the impact of such attributions on levels of general caregiver burden and burden specific to patient depressive symptoms. Participants were 212 spouses and adult children of older adults enrolled in a depression treatment study. Over one third of caregivers endorsed character attributions, which significantly predicted greater levels of both general and depression‐specific burden. Intention attributions were significantly associated with general burden, but not depression‐specific burden. Contrary to our expectation, controllability attributions did not predict either type of burden. Our findings suggest that the assessment of family caregiver attributions for LLD may be useful in identifying caregivers at risk for burden and subsequent health effects, as well as those who may need education and support to provide effective care to a vulnerable population of older adults.     

American and Chinese College Students’ Anticipations of Their Postgraduate Education, Career, and Future Family Roles

American and Chinese college students’ anticipations showed no gender differences in their desires for postgraduate education, marriage, and parental status. Stereotypical gender differences emerged in both countries when caregiving roles were considered: Both men and women rated it more likely for women than for men to quit their jobs to be caregivers. Overall, male college students, the Chinese men in particular, felt less comfortable than did women in situations where their spouses were superior in earnings, achievements, and social status. More Chinese than American students planned to enter marriage and parenthood at a later age, and the Chinese students rated the importance of family lower. These findings are discussed in light of the general sociocultural model and the role distribution theory.This study was supported partially by a summer mini-grant issued by the University of St. Francis in 2000.     

Stressful situations in caregiving: relations between caregiver coping and well-being

We examined ways in which caregivers cope with stressful caregiving situations and the relations between coping strategies and caregivers' psychosocial well-being. Respondents were 58 family caregivers to patients discharged from a rehabilitation hospital. Caregivers identified a recent stressful event in caregiving and indicated strategies used to cope with this event. After controlling for patients' impairment level, analyses indicated that caregivers engaging in more escape-avoidance coping reported greater depression and more conflict in their personal relationships. Those using more positive reappraisal demonstrated greater positive affect. Younger caregivers, many of whom were women, used more avoidance strategies. Results have implications for therapeutic interventions with family caregivers.     

Hope and social support utilisation among different age groups of women with breast cancer and their spouses

Objective: Social support and hope are considered positive, important contributors to psychological well-being for women with breast cancer and their spouses. Few studies examine the role of age in relation to these variables. The current study compares the relationship between social support, hope and depression among different age groups of women with advanced breast cancer and their healthy spouses.

Design: Cross-sectional sample of 150 women with advanced breast cancer and their spouses.

Main outcome measures: Social support, hope, depression and socio-demographic data. Analysis included comparison of these variables between groups of older and younger patients and their spouses. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine hope as a mediator of the relationship between social support and depression within each group (older and younger patients and spouses).

Results: Older patients and spouses reported lower levels of depression than younger ones. SEM showed that social support related directly to depression among younger women and older spouses, while hope was directly related to depression among older women and younger spouses and acted as a mediator between social support and depression.

Conclusions: Theoretical, empirical and clinical implications regarding the understanding of the role of age in coping with cancer are discussed.     

Psychophysiological mediators of caregiver stress and differential cognitive decline

The authors examined relationships between chronic stress and cognitive decline and whether such relationships were mediated by psychophysiological factors. Ninety-six caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer's disease (AD) were compared with 95 similar noncaregiver spouses. All were free of diabetes. Although the groups started similarly, over 2 years caregivers declined by a small but significant amount (1 raw score point and 4 percentile points, each p<.05) on Shipley Vocabulary. In contrast, noncaregivers did not change. Higher hostile attribution (beta=-.09; p<.05) and metabolic risk (beta=-.10; p<.05) in caregivers mediated the cognitive decline. This is the first study of cognitive decline and mediators in caregivers. This work has implications for caregiver and care-recipient health and for research on cognition, psychophysiology, diabetes, and AD.     

Coping with the Uncontrollable: The Use of General and Religious Coping by Caregivers to Spouses with Dementia

SUMMARY

Using a transactional model of stress and coping, we examined the general (i.e., Problem-Focused, Emotion-Focused) and religious (i.e., Self-Directing, Collaborative, Deferring) coping strategies used by 64 caregivers to spouses with dementia to cope with their most significant, albeit uncontrollable, caregiving hassle over a two-month period. With respect to general coping, we hypothesized that caregivers who used Emotion-Focused coping would demonstrate fewer Depressive Symptoms at Month 2 after controlling for Depressive Symptoms at Month 1. With respect to religious coping, we hypothesized that care-givers who used Deferring Coping would also demonstrate fewer Depressive Symptoms. Results revealed interesting patterns between caregivers' use of general and religious coping strategies. Contrary to our hypotheses, caregivers who used Emotion-Focused and Collaborative coping reported greater Depressive Symptoms. Implications for the empirical study of stress and coping and directions for future research are discussed.     

Effect of Body Image on Tunisian Women’s Sexual Functioning

The objective of this study was to identify the perception of body image by Tunisian women and their spouses and to examine its impact on female sexuality. Our study involved 300 Tunisian women who had been married for at least 1 year and consulted in primary care medicine during the months of June and July 2016. Each participant completed a questionnaire covering four areas: women’s perception of their body, the perception of the spouses of the latter as it was reported by the participants, sexual activity, and the impact of body perception on sexual activity. The participants were satisfied with their bodies in 51% of cases. This satisfaction was associated with perceiving the body as physically attractive (p?=?0.007), young (p?=?0.047) and as a source of confidence (p?<?0.001). Compared to women dissatisfied with their bodies, those satisfied declared satisfaction of sexual desire (p?=?0.005), reaching orgasm (p?=?0.001), taking the initiative in sexual activity (p?=?0.003) and preparation for sex (p?=?0.006). Perceived satisfaction of the partner with the female body was related to a more positive sexuality in women, specifically to women’s sexual satisfaction (p?=?0.018), women taking sexual initiative (p?=?0.014) and preparation for sex (p?=?0.001). Our study indicates the important impact of a positive perception of the body image of Tunisian women by themselves and by their spouses on their sexuality. It would be interesting to consider these aspects in the management of female sexual disorders.     

Loneliness and psychological health of orthopaedic patients’ caregivers: does gender make a difference?

Although research evidence indicates that loneliness is detrimental to mental health in diverse populations, impact of loneliness on psychological distress of orthopaedic patients’ caregivers has been given little research attention. The present study examined the association of loneliness with psychological health, and explored gender differences in the loneliness and psychological health association among orthopaedic patients’ caregivers. Participants were 250 patients’ caregivers drawn from a national orthopaedic hospital in eastern Nigeria. Data was collected by means of self-report measures translated into the local dialect of the caregivers. Multiple regression results showed that loneliness positively predicted psychological distress in the total sample. Loneliness did not predict psychological distress of male caregivers, but it positively predicted psychological distress of female caregivers. In order to promote orthopaedic patients caregivers’ mental health, gender-based differentials in the link between loneliness and psychological distress should be addressed by researchers and healthcare practitioners.     

配偶的善意性别偏见对职业女性工作繁荣的影响机制研究：一个有调节的中介模型

本文基于工作-家庭资源模型,采用问卷调查法,收集208份双职工夫妻配对数据,探讨配偶的善意性别偏见对职业女性工作繁荣的中介机制与边界效应。研究结果表明：配偶的善意性别偏见负向预测职业女性的工作繁荣,家庭-工作冲突中介了配偶的善意性别偏见与工作繁荣的关系;同时,职业女性的工作中心性调节了家庭-工作冲突在二者间的中介作用。研究结果对降低职业女性的家庭-工作冲突,减少善意性别偏见,促进工作繁荣有一定的理论和实践意义。     

UNDERSTANDING THE SEXUALITY OF MEXICAN-BORN WOMEN AND THEIR RISK FOR HIV/AIDS

Participants in this study were 300 Mexican women of rural origin who were born and raised in villages of that country and who belong to one of three groups: married and living with their husbands in Los Angeles, California ( n = 100), married to migrant workers but living in Mexico ( n = 100), and living in Mexico with their spouses ( n = 100). Trained female professionals conducted face-to-face interviews in Spanish, in Mexico and in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify specific sexual practices, coping strategies in sex-related situations, and fears and concerns regarding sexual intercourse. This article analyzes how these elements place Mexican ruralorigin women at risk for HIV/AIDS. It discusses the need to design intervention strategies to prevent HIV/AIDS that take into consideration the limited power of women in traditional societies and the cultural precepts that promote gender roles characterized by male dominance and female submissiveness in the sexual arena.