Does the psychosocial quality of unpaid family work contribute to educational disparities in mental health among employed partnered mothers?

Perinatal anxiety disorders screening study: a study protocol

BACKGROUND

The anxiety and their related disorders (AD) are the most common of all mental health conditions, and affect approximately 20% of pregnant and postpartum people. They are associated with significant distress and life interference for sufferers, as well as negative consequences for fetal and infant development. At present, little if any routine screening for prenatal AD is being conducted and data regarding the most effective tools to screen for these disorders is lacking. The majority of screening studies suffer from methodological difficulties which undermine the confidence needed to recommend measures for population distribution. The primary purpose of this research is to identify the most accurate self-report tool(s) to screen for perinatal AD.

METHODS

A large, prospective cohort of pregnant people (N = 1,000) is being recruited proportionally across health service delivery regions in British Columbia (BC). The screening accuracy of a broad range of perinatal AD self-report measures are being assessed using gold standard methodology. Consenting individuals are administered online questionnaires followed by a semi-structured diagnostic interview between 16- and 36-weeks' gestation, and again between 6 and 20 weeks postpartum. Questionnaires include all screening measures, measures of sleep and unpaid family work, and questions pertaining to demographic and reproductive history, COVID-19, gender role burden, and mental health treatment utilization. Interviews assess all current anxiety disorders, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

DISCUSSION

This research is in response to an urgent demand for accurate perinatal AD screening tools based on high quality evidence. AD among perinatal people often go unidentified and untreated, resulting in continued suffering and life impairment. Findings from this research will inform healthcare providers, policymakers, and scientists, about the most effective approach to screening for anxiety and related disorders in pregnancy in the postpartum period.

Domestic Work, Self-Reported Diagnosed Depression and Related Costs among Women and Men-Results from a Population-Based Study in Sweden

BACKGROUND

In contrast to paid work, few studies have investigated the association between unpaid domestic work and mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between domestic work and self-reported diagnosed depression and to estimate related costs in a general population.

METHOD

The study is based on women (N = 7981) and men (N = 6203) aged 30-69 years who responded to a survey questionnaire in Mid-Sweden in 2017 (overall response rate 43%). Multivariate logistic regression models, adjusting for age group, educational level, family status, employment status, economic difficulties, and social support, were used to study the association between domestic work and depression. The estimation of direct and indirect costs was based on the calculation of population attributable risks, the literature, and administrative data.

RESULTS

In total, 25% of the women and 14% of the men spent more than 20 h a week on domestic work, and 57% of the women and 39% of the men experienced domestic work sometimes or more often as burdensome. A strong independent association between experiencing domestic work as burdensome and depression was observed both in women and men. The total cost of depression possibly related to burdensome domestic work was estimated up to EUR 135.1 million (min EUR 20.7 million-max EUR 21.4 billion) of the total EUR 286.4 million per year in Mid-Sweden.

CONCLUSIONS

The association between experiencing domestic work as burdensome and depression was strong among both women and men and was not restricted to employed persons or to parents with children. Even though the cross-sectional design does not allow one to assess the direction of the association between domestic work and depression, and longitudinal studies are needed, the results imply that strain in domestic work should be taken into account when considering factors that contribute to the prevalence of depression in the general population and its high societal costs.

Household Income and Psychological Distress: Exploring Women's Paid and Unpaid Work as Mediators

Research suggests that a socioeconomic gradient in employed adults' mental health may be partially mediated by their work conditions. Largely ignored in this body of research is the potential role of unpaid domestic labor. The objectives of this paper were to determine whether socioeconomic disparities in mental health were present in a sample of employed, partnered mothers, and if so, identify the intervening mechanisms which contributed to the disparity. Participants for this cross-sectional study were 512 women recruited from an online research panel of residents living in Saskatchewan, Canada. Household income was the primary exposure and psychological distress was the dependent variable. Potential mediators included material deprivation, job control, job demands, work-family conflict, and the conditions of domestic labor. Descriptive analyses followed by simple and multiple mediation analyses were performed. Lower income was associated with greater distress, with material deprivation, work-family conflict, and inequity in responsibility for domestic work acting as mediators. These results suggest that in addition to more well-established mechanisms, the conditions of unpaid domestic labor, particularly how that labor is shared within households, may play a role in the genesis of mental health inequities among employed partnered mothers. Limitations of the study are discussed as are implications for future research.

Gender equality in domestic work and sickness absence - a population-based study on women and men in Sweden

Division of domestic work by gender has been discussed as part of the explanation why women present a higher sickness absence rate than men. This study aimed to examine the association between gender equality in domestic work and sickness absence. Data from 2,609 co-habiting women and men (aged 19-64) collected in a general population in Sweden were used. Associations between different measures of gender equality in domestic work and numbers of sick-leave days were analyzed with logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, children, and paid work. Results show that women reported lower levels of gender equality than men did. Satisfaction with division of domestic work was in the final model associated with lower odds ratio (OR) for sickness absence in men irrespective of number of days. Work-family conflicts were associated with higher ORs for sickness absence in men, 1-7 sick-leave days (OR 1.51 (CI 1.04-2.18)), and in women, 8-30 days (OR 1.51 (1.00-2.33)). More knowledge on the meaning of gender equality in domestic work in relation to sickness absence for women and men are important for future prevention activities.