STRESS OF PARENT CARE - POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF WOMENS OTHERROLES

The present study focused on 296 women who were primary caregivers to an ill or disabled parent or parent-in-law and who simultaneously occu pied 3 other roles as mother, wife, and employee. All women lived in s eparate households from their impaired parent and had at least 1 child 25 years of age or younger living at home. It was predicted that stre ss in the roles of mother, wife, and employee would exacerbate the eff ects of stress in the parent care role on psychological well-being (de pression and life satisfaction) and that rewards in these 3 additional roles would buffer the effects of parent care stress. For all 3 addit ional roles, findings supported the stress exacerbation hypothesis. In contrast, only the employee role supported the stress-buffering hypot hesis. These findings underscore the complex relationships that often exist between women's multiple role experiences and their psychologica l well-being.