Longitudinal Associations between Work-Family Role Strain
and Psychological Distress Among Low-Income Mothers
Nicole J. Holmberg, Angela Burns, & Laura D. Pittman
Northern Illinois University
Background
Demographic & Descriptive Data
 Many working mothers experience role strain associated with their
INCOME-TO-NEEDS RATIO
competing social roles, and mothers who experience greater role
strain are more likely to experience a psychological disorder, such as
depression (e.g., Wang et al., 2007).
5%
At or Below
Poverty Line
Working Poor
(1-2x Poverty
Line)
 Much of the role strain literature has focused on cross-sectional
studies of educated, White, married, working women (e.g.,
Nomaguchi & Brown, 2011); however, Ciabattari (2007) found that
low-income working mothers reported more role strain than highincome mothers.
African
American
Less than
HS/GED
 Maternal psychopathology has been associated with a host of factors
detrimental to family functioning and child outcomes (e.g., Burke,
2003).
MATERNAL ETHNICITY
EDUCATION OBTAINED
29%
HS/GED
35%
42%
More than
HS/GED
2x Above
Poverty Line
8%
Hispanic
47%
60%
Means and Standard Deviations
White/Other
24%
50%
N
Mean
SD
Maternal age
354
27.81
6.89
BSI W1 T-score
354
48.33
10.26
BSI W2 T-score
354
47.40
10.67
Role Strain
Income-to-Needs
Ratio
354
1.99
0.61
354
0.93
0.54
 While having more education has been linked to increased role strain
(Barnet & Baruch, 1985), whether it moderates the association
between work-family role strain and psychological distress has not
been explored.
 This study will test maternal role strain’s ability to predict
psychological distress over time, while controlling for Wave 1
psychological distress, and consider whether education moderates
that relationship in a diverse sample of mothers living in low-income
urban areas.
Regression Results
 Data came from the first two waves of the Welfare, Children and
Families: A Three-City Study, a sample of 2,402 families living in lowincome urban areas (45% African American, 46% Hispanic American;
9% Caucasian or other ethnicities).
Model 1
Unstandardized
Constant
BSI W1
 The sample consisted of 50% African Americans, 42% Hispanics, 8%
 Maternal role strain was assessed at W1 with 32 items from a modified
version of the Work and Family Life Questionnaire (Greenberger,
1989). Internal consistency alphas were .94 at both W1 and W2.
 Maternal education and income-to-needs ratio were assessed at W1.
Income-to-needs ratio was determined by dividing household income
by the poverty line value based on the number of inhabitants in the
home.
 Maternal psychological distress was measured with the Brief
Symptoms Inventory-18 (BSI; Derogatis, 2000) at W1 and W2. The BSI18 is an 18-item measure with subscales for depression, anxiety, and
somatization. The internal consistency alphas for W1 and W2 were .91
and .93, respectively.
Analyses
 Three dummy variables were created indicating whether the mother
had less than a high school diploma/GED (HS/GED), had a HS/GED, or
had more than a HS/GED (i.e., education group).
 A MANOVA was run to identify mean education group differences in BSI
(W1 & W2) and role strain scores, followed by post-hoc Bonferroniadjusted (α = .017) discriminant analysis to compare all group pairs.
 Interaction terms were created by multiplying centered W1 role strain
and education dummy variables.
 Hierarchical multiple regressions were run, first stepping in maternal
age, ethnicity, and W1 psychological distress, followed by education,
role strain (Model 1), and then interaction terms (Model 2).
3.45
0.05
-0.03
0.07
African American
-0.11
White/Other
-0.75
Model 2
Standardized
Unstandardized
Standardized
Beta
B
Std. Error
Beta
--
41.17
3.48
--
0.43***
0.52
0.06
0.44***
-0.02
-0.00
0.07
-0.00
1.02
-0.01
0.27
1.02
0.01
1.83
-0.02
-0.53
1.82
-0.01
Ethnicitya
HS/GED
-2.79
1.34
-0.11*
-2.71
1.34
-0.11*
More than HS/GED
-3.45
1.17
-0.16**
-3.70
1.16
-0.17**
Role Strain
role strain also reported increased psychological distress over time. This may be problematic, as
research has shown that maternal psychological distress can negatively impact children and
other family members (e.g., Burke, 2003).
 Mothers who did not have a HS/GED reported more psychological distress over time than those
who had a HS/GED and those who had more than a HS/GED. As such, having at least a HS/GED
seemed to prospectively protect low-income mothers from psychological distress.
 Results of this study differ from those of Barnet and Baruch (1985), who found that maternal
education was positively associated with increased psychological distress, such that more
education was correlated with greater psychological distress. It could be the case that among
low-income mothers, less education is associated with fewer job prospects, which may
contribute additional financial strain and psychological distress.
 Education was not found to moderate the strength of the relationship between role strain and
psychological distress.
 Given these findings, factors other than maternal education (e.g., social support, shared
Maternal Education b
Caucasians or Others.
Measures
22.44
Std. Error
0.44
Maternal Age
 Analyses focused on 354 working mothers of children between 2 and
4 years old who participated in both Waves 1 (W1) and 2 (W2; 16
months later; 92% retention rate).
 Results of the current study revealed that low-income mothers who experienced work-family
Multiple Regression Coefficients
B
Participants
Discussion
3.43
0.85
Role Strain*HS/GED
--
--
Role Strain*More than
--
--
0.20***
2.26
1.47
0.13
--
3.11
2.21
0.09
--
0.94
1.85
0.04
21.65***
R2
 Generalizability of these findings is limited to mothers of low-income urban populations.
Additional studies are needed to further explore the relationship between maternal role strain
and psychological distress in ethnically diverse samples of mothers with a variety of educational
backgrounds.
References
HS/GED
F
parenting responsibilities with partner) should be considered as potential buffers to the strain
associated with being a working mother.
0.31
17.07***
0.31
Note. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
a Hispanic American is the comparison group
b Less than a HS diploma.GED is the comparison group
 Hierarchical multiple regression analyses for Model 1 revealed that W1 maternal role strain
predicted increased psychological distress 16 months later (B = 3.43, p < .001).
 MANOVA results revealed a statistically significant Wilk’s lambda, suggesting that the different
education groups differed in their mean DV scores (λ = .94; p = .002). A test of between-subjects
effects indicated that the groups differed on their BSI W2 scores when a Bonferroni-adjusted alpha
was used (F = 4.72; p = .010). Post-hoc discriminant analysis revealed only one statistically
significant comparison: the less than HS/GED vs. HS/GED group pair significantly differed on their
BSI W2 scores (mean difference = 4.44; p = .012).
 Barnet, R. C., & Baruch, G. K. (1985). Women’s involvement in multiple roles and psychological
distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 135-145.
 Burke, L. (2003). The impact of maternal depression on familial relationships. International
Review of Psychiatry, 15, 243-255. doi: 10.1080.0954026031000136866
 Ciabattari, T. (2007). Single mothers, social capital, and work-family conflict. Journal of Family
Issues, 28, 34-60. doi: 10.1177/0192513X06292809
 Nomaguchi, K. M., & Brown, S. L. (2011).Parental strains and rewards among mothers: The role
of education. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73, 621-636. doi: 10.1111/j.17413737.2011.00835.x
 Wang, J., Afifi, T. O., Cox, B., & Sareen, J. (2007). Work-family conflict and mental disorders in the
United States: Cross-sectional findings from the National Comorbidity Survey. American Journal
of Industrial Medicine, 50, 143-149. doi: 10.1002/ajim.20428
 Hierarchical multiple regression analyses for Model 1 also revealed that education predicted
psychological distress over time, such that mothers with HS/GED and those with more than
HS/GED experienced less psychological distress over time than mothers who lacked a degree (B = 2.79, p < .05; B = -3.45, p < .01, respectively). No significant differences were found when mothers
with HS/GED were compared to mothers with more than HS/GED.
 However, results from Model 2 indicated that education obtained did not moderate the
relationship between W1 role strain and W2 psychological distress, as the interactions were
nonsignificant.
 Please contact Nicole J. Holmberg with comments, questions, or feedback about this poster at
nicole.j.holmberg@niu.edu or via the Psychology Department, Northern Illinois University,
DeKalb, IL 60115.