Psychological impact of work schedules and participation in household tasks in dual-earner couples

The present research examined the joint impact of characteristics of the wo rk schedule and the participation in household work on psychological distre ss and parental role strain as well as stress crossover. A total of 93 dual -earner couples with at least one child living at home participated. Multip le regression analyses revealed that predictive variables of the psychologi cal distress or the parental role strain differed for men and women and tha t the parental role strain was related to the psychological distress for bo th men and women. Results partially support the hypothesis of stress crosso ver since no characteristics of work schedule of the husband's and wife's w ere related to parental role strain of the spouses, but women's participati on in the children's care was associated with men's higher parental role st rain. These results underline the importance of studying strains associated with specific social roles of women and men with respect to effects of bot h work schedule and family strains related to psychological distress.