Paid Work and Domestic Labor in Disadvantaged Communities on the Outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon

This article explored the association between economic activity and the contribution to domestic labor in a Middle Eastern society. Analyses were carried out on cross-sectional survey data from 5,998 individuals, aged between 18 and 64 years, in three poor communities in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. Domestic labor was evaluated with a composite index that takes into account both the type of task performed and the level of involvement. Housework categories included core household chores, care giving, financial management, home management, and home/car maintenance. Results showed that women continue to do most of the domestic labor in the three communities. However, women’s load of domestic labor decreased as they joined the labor market, whereas men’s contribution to domestic labor increased with involvement in paid work. Relatively speaking, the difference in contribution to housework between house members engaged and not engaged in paid labor was much higher for women than it was for men.     

Profiles of dyadic adjustment for advanced prostate cancer to inform couple-based intervention

Objective: The purpose of the study is to describe from a relational perspective, partners’ psychological adjustment, coping and support needs for advanced prostate cancer.

Design: A mixed methods design was adopted, employing triangulation of qualitative and quantitative data, to produce dyadic profiles of adjustment for six couples recruited from the urology clinics of local hospitals in Tasmania, Australia.

Methods: Dyads completed a video-taped communication task, semi-structured interview and standardised self-report questionnaires.

Results: Themes identified were associated with the dyadic challenges of the disease experience (e.g. relationship intimacy, disease progression and carer burden). Couples with poor psychological adjustment profiles had both clinical and global locus of distress, treatment side-effects, carer burden and poor general health. Resilient couples demonstrated relationship closeness and adaptive cognitive and behavioural coping strategies. The themes informed the adaption of an effective program for couples coping with women’s cancers (CanCOPE, to create a program for couples facing advanced prostate cancer (ProCOPE-Adv).

Conclusion: Mixed method results inform the development of psychological therapy components for couples coping with advanced prostate cancer. The concomitance of co-morbid health problems may have implications for access and engagement for older adult populations in face-to-face intervention.     

DEMOGRAPHIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND RELATIONSHIP FACTORS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DURING PREGNANCY IN A SAMPLE OF LOW-INCOME WOMEN OF COLOR

Research suggests that a significant number of women first experience domestic violence during pregnancy. The current study examines correlates of violence during pregnancy, first by comparing women who did and did not report violence, and second examining three subgroups of women who reported violence (violence initiated, violence persisted, violence ceased). Results indicated that controlling for demographics, more frequent violence was associated with less support and satisfaction with support from the baby's father, more negative interactions with the baby's father, and more verbal aggression in their relationships than those who did not report violence. Differences among subgroups of women reporting violence emerged only for the relationship variables. Implications for detecting violence in clinical settings are discussed.