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Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
Dispositional Optimism, Role-Specific
Stress, and the Well-Being of
Adult Daughter Caregivers
AUDIE A. ATIENZA
Stanford University
MARY ANN PARRIS STEPHENS
Kent State University
ALOEN L. TOWNSEND
Case Western Reserve University
The present investigation examined the effects of role stress and dispositional optimism on the well-being of 296 adult daughter caregivers who simultaneously occupied mother, wife, and employee roles. It was predicted that dispositional optimism
would buffer the effects of stress in each of the four roles on psychological well-being
(depressive symptoms and life satisfaction). Results provided some evidence to support the stress-buffering hypothesis. Dispositional optimism buffered (i.e., moderated) the effects of wife stress on depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. In addition, main effects of dispositional optimism on the psychological well-being were
found, even after considering stressful experiences in particular social roles (e.g.,
caregiver). Findings suggest that dispositional optimism can serve as a beneficial
resource that reduces the negative effects of wife stress on psychological well-being
and contributes to adult daughter caregiver’s well-being, irrespective of stress experienced in specific social roles, including caregiving.
Many women combine the role of caregiver to an ill or disabled older
family member with other roles at some point in their lives (Brody
1990; Doress-Worters 1994; Moen, Robison, and Fields 1994). For
AUTHORS’NOTE: This research was part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation and was
based on a larger study, titled “Multiple Roles of Middle-Generation Caregiving Women,” supported, in part, by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG 11906) and in part by
Kent State University. Preparation of this article was supported, by a grant from the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (5 T32 HL 07034). We wish to thank the office staff and interviewers for their assistance with recruitment and data collection. We also wish to thank Dr. Abby
King for her comments on earlier drafts of this article.
RESEARCH ON AGING, Vol. 24 No. 2, March 2002 193-217
© 2002 Sage Publications
193
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women who occupy multiple roles that include the caregiver role,
higher levels of stress in the caregiver role, as well as in additional
roles (i.e., mother, wife, and employee), have been linked to poorer
psychological well-being (Martire, Stephens, and Atienza 1997;
Stephens, Franks, and Townsend 1994). However, the stress literature
has noted that individual differences exist in response to stress
(Dohrenwend et al. 1982; Johnson and Sarason 1978; Kessler, Price,
and Wortman 1985; Sarason and Sarason 1984; Thoits 1983). Thus,
psychological well-being may not necessarily decrease as a result of
stress. Consequently, stress researchers have attempted to identify
personal resources that may help to ameliorate the negative effects of
stress on well-being (Antonovsky 1979; Kobasa, Maddi, and Kahn
1982; Lazarus and Folkman 1984; Pearlin and Schooler 1978).
Dispositional optimism has been proposed as one such factor that may
buffer (or reduce) the debilitating effect of stress (Scheier and Carver
1985). However, the caregiving and multiple-roles literatures have
given little attention to the buffering effects of dispositional optimism
on the relationship between stress stemming from specific roles a person occupies and psychological well-being.
Dispositional optimism, defined as generalized expectancies of
positive versus negative outcomes in life (Scheier and Carver 1985),
has previously been examined in relation to stress and well-being in
the health psychology literature. Research has typically investigated
the relationship between dispositional optimism, stress, and
well-being in one of two ways. One method has examined the main
effect of optimism on psychological well-being among individuals
who were experiencing situations or events generally considered to be
stressful. Studies using this method have found that higher levels of
dispositional optimism were predictive of improved psychological
well-being among patients receiving coronary artery bypass surgery
(Scheier et al. 1989) and patients receiving breast cancer surgery
(Carver et al. 1993). Similarly, the caregiving literature has documented that higher levels of dispositional optimism were related to
better well-being among individuals providing care to spouses with
Alzheimer’s disease (Hooker et al. 1992) and those providing care to
cancer patients (Kurtz et al. 1995).
The other method for investigating the relationships between
dispositional optimism, stress, and well-being has involved examining the interaction (or buffering) effect of optimism on the relationship
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
195
between stress and well-being. In these investigations, generalized
expectancies of outcomes in life (i.e., dispositional optimism) were
hypothesized to buffer (or reduce) the negative effects of stress on
well-being. A study of college students provided support for the
hypothesis that optimism can buffer the negative effects of stress on
physical health (Lai 1995). Specifically, greater school-related stress
was associated with poorer physical well-being for individuals who
reported lower levels of optimism but not for those who reported
higher levels of optimism.
Another study has provided support for the hypothesis that generalized expectancies of future outcomes can interact with chronic stress
to affect changes in women’s psychological well-being (Bromberger
and Matthews 1996). Bromberger and Matthews (1996) investigated
chronic stress (conceptualized as at least one stressful life event that
lasted 6 months or longer) and generalized expectancies (conceptualized as negative expectations in general) for middle-aged women experiencing menopause. Chronic stress in this study could have occurred
in any domain of women’s lives. The interaction between chronic
stress and negative outcome expectancies predicted depressive symptoms even after considering initial levels of depressive symptoms,
level of education, and the main effects of chronic stress and negative
outcome expectancies. At higher levels of negative expectancies,
greater chronic stress was related to increases in depressive symptoms
over time, whereas at lower levels of negative expectancies, chronic
stress was unrelated to changes in depressive symptoms.
Researchers have noted that stress can differ in specificity, with
some forms of stress linked to specific life domains, including social
roles (Aneshensel and Pearlin 1987; Pearlin 1983; Pearlin and Lieberman 1979; Stephens et al. 1994). Yet, whether dispositional optimism
can moderate the effects of role-specific stress on psychological
well-being has been given little attention. Based on the suggestion that
expectancies at multiple levels of abstraction, including generalized
expectancies, may influence specific outcomes (Carver and Scheier
1998), it is possible that generalized outcome expectancies (i.e., dispositional optimism) can influence the effects of role-specific stress
on psychological well-being.
The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effects
of role stress and dispositional optimism on psychological well-being
among women who simultaneously occupy the roles of parent care,
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mother, wife, and employee. Prior research investigating dispositional
optimism as a buffer in the relationship between stress and psychological well-being has also focused primarily on negative aspects of
well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms; Bromberger and Matthews
1996). In contrast, there has been a paucity of research on the relationships between optimism, stress, and positive aspects of well-being
(e.g., life satisfaction). As research has reported that life satisfaction is
empirically and conceptually distinct from negative aspects of
well-being (i.e., negative affect) (Lucas, Diener, and Suh 1996), the
present study focused on both negative components of well-being
(i.e., depressive symptoms) and positive components of well-being
(i.e., life satisfaction).
Dispositional optimism was conceptualized as a personal resource
that resides within the individual and functions as a stress resistance
resource. Some theorists have argued that optimism and pessimism
represent two separate and independent dimensions (Marshall et al.
1992). Others have argued that optimism is a unidimensional construct with bipolar or multifaceted characteristics (Carver et al. 1993;
Lucas et al. 1996; Scheier and Carver 1985). On the basis of the
assumption of the control theory of self-regulation that expectancy
judgments represent a bipolar decision (Scheier and Carver 1982) and
on research that indicates that optimism and pessimism are strongly
correlated factors (Chang and McBride-Chang 1996; Hjelle, Belongia,
and Nesser 1996; Marshall and Lang 1990; Scheier and Carver 1985),
the present study conceptualized dispositional optimism as a
unidimensional construct with bipolar characteristics.
It was hypothesized that dispositional optimism would buffer (i.e.,
an interaction) the negative effects of stress reported in each role on
the psychological well-being of adult daughter caregivers who occupy
additional roles. That is, higher levels of role stress were expected to
be related to poorer psychological well-being for caregivers with
lower levels of optimism, whereas there was expected to be no relationship between role stress and psychological well-being for caregivers with higher levels of optimism. In the absence of an interaction,
it was predicted that role stress and dispositional optimism would have
simultaneous main effects (i.e., average simple effects: Aiken and
West 1991) on psychological well-being. Thus, it was expected that
greater optimism would be associated with better psychological
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
197
well-being, even after considering the detrimental effects of role stress
on the well-being of caregivers.
This study examined the effects of dispositional optimism and role
stress on the well-being of women with multiple roles that include the
parent care role after considering the caregiver’s physical health. The
caregiving literature has previously reported perceived physical
health of caregivers to be related to both their role-specific stress levels and psychological well-being (Martire et al. 1997). Other research
has demonstrated a significant correlation between perceived physical
health and dispositional optimism in caregivers (Hooker et al. 1998).
Thus, perceived physical health may confound links between role
stress, dispositional optimism, and psychological well-being. Controlling for perceived physical health allows for clearer inferences
about the stress-reducing effects of dispositional optimism on the psychological well-being of women with multiple roles that include parent care.
Method
PARTICIPANTS
Data came from the first wave of a longitudinal study of middlegeneration women who occupied multiple roles (Stephens and
Townsend 1997). This study recruited women from northeast Ohio
and two counties in western Pennsylvania bordering Ohio. A variety
of sources was used for recruiting respondents, including newspaper
articles, newspapers and radio advertisements, and notices in newsletters published by businesses and social organizations. Special efforts
were made to recruit African American women in proportion to their
representation in the recruiting area (13 percent; U.S. Bureau of the
Census 1992b).
All participants initially occupied the roles of primary caregiver to
an impaired parent or parent-in-law (both hereafter referred to as “parent”), mother to at least one child living at home, wife, and employee.
To qualify as a primary caregiver, a participant had to assist the parent
with at least one personal or instrumental activity of daily living
(e.g., bathing, meal preparation) or provide supervision to the parent.
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Primary caregiver refers to the family member who spends the most
time caring for the parent. In addition, participants were required to be
caring for a parent who lived in the community but in a separate household from the respondent. The decision to select participants who initially did not share a residence with the parent was based on research
indicating that adult-child caregivers who live with the impaired parent differ in well-being from those who live in separate households
(e.g., Deimling et al. 1989). To qualify as a mother, a participant had to
have at least one child 25 years of age or younger living at home (and
no children older than 25 in the household). This upper age limit of 25
years for children was selected to account for an increasing tendency
for young adults to remain at home for longer periods of time (U.S.
Bureau of the Census 1992c). To qualify as a wife, a participant had to
be currently married and living with her husband. Finally, to qualify as
an employee, participants had to be employed either part-time or
full-time. To participate, women were required to have occupied each
of these four roles for at least two months prior to the initial interview.
A total of 898 women were screened for eligibility. Of these
women, 296 (33 percent) were eligible and willing to participate. The
three most common reasons for ineligibility were that the woman was
not providing care to a parent (22 percent of ineligible women), had
children older than 25 years of age living at home (16 percent of ineligible women), or was not the primary caregiver (15 percent of ineligible women). A total of 5.5 percent of all women who called the
research office declined to participate. Structured, in-person interviews were conducted in the participants’ homes or other places of
their choosing from July 1994 through December 1995, and interviews typically took one and one-half hours to administer.
Most women in the sample were White (88 percent); the remainder
(12 percent) were African American. The average age of the participants was 43.9 years (SD = 6.2, range = 25-60). Participants had an
average of 14.6 years of education (SD = 1.9, range = 10-17). Participants had been married for an average of 18.4 years (SD = 8.6, range =
1-39). On average, participants reported having 2.1 children living at
home (SD = 1.0, range = 1-9). The average age of the youngest child
living at home was 12.7 years (SD = 6.5, range = 1-25).
In terms of their relationship to the care recipient, 67 percent of the
sample were providing care to a mother, 19 percent to a father, 11 percent to a mother-in-law, and 3 percent to a father-in-law. Participants
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
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had been providing care to the parent for an average of 6.3 years (SD =
6.0, range = 2 months to 37.0 years). The average age of the impaired
parent was 76.1 years (SD = 7.3, range = 50-94). More than half (60
percent) of the participants rated the physical health of the parent as
either fair or poor. While a number of chronic health conditions were
noted in parents, the most commonly reported conditions were arthritis, dementia, and cardiovascular disease. In terms of activities of
daily living, 32 percent of the parents required at least some assistance
with bathing, 27 percent required at least some assistance with dressing, 92 percent needed at least some help with housework, 87 percent
required at least some help with transportation, and 77 percent needed
supervision at least some of the time. The participants spent an average of 2.8 hours assisting with caregiving tasks on a typical weekday
(SD = 2.9, range = 0-20) and 3.4 hours on a typical weekend day (SD =
3.2, range = 0-24).
The average number of hours that participants worked per week
was 36.6 (SD = 12.3, range = 8-75), and the average number of weeks
participants worked during the previous year was 48.8 (SD = 7.8,
range = 8-52). Most of the participants were employed in managerial
or professional occupations (45 percent) or in technical, sales, and
administrative-support occupations (44 percent) (using occupational
classifications referenced in U.S. Bureau of the Census 1992a). On
average, participants reported that their annual household income was
between $40,000 and $59,000, which is comparable with the national
median family income ($51,000) of married couples with the wife in
the paid labor force (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1996).
Instruments
ROLE STRESS
Parent care role. The parent care role stress items were adapted
from other research on family caregiving (Albert 1991; Kinney and
Stephens 1989; Vitaliano et al. 1991; Zarit and Zarit 1983). A total of
15 items (e.g., “Dealing with your parent’s memory or cognitive problems”) comprised the measure of parent care stress. Participants were
asked to indicate how stressful each experience had been during the
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past two months, using a scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 4 (very
much). Participants could indicate that items did not apply to their situation. Parent care role stress scores were calculated for each participant to represent the average amount of stress experienced in that role.
Scores were calculated by summing the ratings across items and
dividing by the number of items endorsed as being applicable to the
participant’s situation (stress in the mother, wife, and employee roles
were calculated in a similar fashion). Parent care role stress scores
were calculated in this way to create measures that excluded events
that an individual had not experienced in the past two months, had
never experienced, or that were irrelevant to her situation (Stephens
and Townsend 1997). The major focus was on the appraisals of events
that had occurred. Thus, parent care role stress scores could range
from 1 (low stress) to 4 (high stress).
The alpha coefficient for the parent care role stress measure in the
current sample was .80. Of the 15 items, the average number of items
endorsed as having occurred was 11.5 (SD = 2.5, range = 3-15). The
average parent care stress score was 2.3 (SD = 0.5, range = 1.1-3.5).
Mother role. Stress in the mother role was assessed using 12 items
(e.g., “Disciplining or correcting your children”) adapted from other
research on the mother roles (Baruch and Barnett 1986; Crnic and
Greenburg 1990; Pearlin and Schooler 1978; Veroff et al. 1981).
Women with more than one child living at home could respond to
these items in regard to any or all of their children. The alpha coefficient for the mother role stress measure in the current sample was .81.
For the mother stress scale, the average number of items endorsed as
having occurred was 9.9 (SD = 2.2, range = 3-12). The average mother
stress score was 2.2 (SD = 0.6, range = 1-4).
Wife role. Wife role stress was assessed with 12 items (e.g., “Problems in communicating with your husband”) adapted from other
research on the wife role (Baruch and Barnett 1986; Veroff et al.
1981). These items included stress associated with household responsibilities as well as interactions with the husband. Inclusion of household responsibilities was based on prior research that suggests that
women retain primary responsibility for housework even in
two-income households (e.g., Biernat and Wortman 1991). The alpha
coefficient for the wife role stress measure in the current sample was
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201
.80. The average number of items endorsed as having occurred was
11.0 (SD = 1.4, range = 4-12). The average wife stress score was 2.2
(SD = 0.6, range = 1-3.8).
Employee role. Stress in the employee role was assessed with nine
items (e.g., “Having too much work to do”) adapted from other
research on the employee role (Baruch and Barnett 1986; Quinn and
Staines 1979; Veroff et al. 1981). The alpha coefficient for the
employee role stress measure in the current sample was .73. The average number of items endorsed as having occurred in this scale was 7.7
(SD = 1.6, range = 2-9). The average employee stress score was 2.3
(SD = 0.7, range = 1-4).
DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
Dispositional optimism was assessed using the Life Orientation
Test (LOT) (Scheier and Carver 1985). This 12-item scale was
designed to assess individual differences in generalized outcome
expectancies. Of the 12 items in this scale, 4 are positively worded, 4
are negatively worded (reversed scored), and 4 are fillers (not scored).
Each item was rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Scores for dispositional optimism could
range from 8 to 40, with higher scores reflecting greater dispositional
optimism. The alpha coefficient for this measure in the current sample
was .81. The mean dispositional optimism (LOT) score was 29.2
(SD = 4.9, range = 14-40).
PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING
Depression. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression
Scale (CES-D) (Radloff 1977) was used to assess depressive symptoms. The CES-D is a 20-item scale that asks respondents to indicate
how frequently they experienced certain symptoms or feelings during
the past week. Scores can range from 0 to 60, with higher scores
reflecting greater symptoms. The alpha coefficient for the depression
measure in the current sample was .91. The average depression score
was 12.5 (SD = 10.1, range = 0-54). A score of 16 or greater on the
CES-D is indicative of a risk for clinical depression (Radloff 1977).
Thirty-two percent of the present sample scored at or above this cutoff.
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Life satisfaction. Life satisfaction was assessed using five items
(House 1986; Neugarten, Havighurst, and Tobin 1961). Four of these
items were rated with response options of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
(strongly agree) (e.g., “These are the best years of my life”), and one
item (“How satisfied are you with your life as a whole?”) was rated
using 1 (not at all satisfied) to 5 (very satisfied). Scores could range
from 5 to 25, with higher scores reflecting greater life satisfaction. The
alpha coefficient for the life satisfaction measure in the current sample
was .74. The average level of life satisfaction was 15.9 (SD = 3.3,
range = 6-25).
CONTROL VARIABLES
Physical health. The physical health of respondents was assessed
using the sum of three items (House 1986), each rated on a 5-point
scale. Respondents were asked to rate (1) their current health, ranging
from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent); (2) the extent to which their daily activities were limited by their health, ranging from 1 (a great deal) to 5 (not
at all); and (3) their satisfaction with their health, ranging from 1 (not
at all satisfied) to 5 (completely satisfied). Scores on the physical
health measure could range from 3 to 15, with higher scores indicating
greater physical health. The alpha coefficient for this measure in the
current sample was .78. The average physical health score was 11.3
(SD = 2.4, range 3-15).
Bivariate correlation coefficients between 24 demographic variables (e.g., race, age, education, number of children at home, hours
employed, household income, age of care recipient) and dependent
variables (i.e., depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) were also
examined to determine whether other control variables should be
included in subsequent analyses, in addition to physical health. A variable was chosen as a control variable for a given equation if it correlated .2 or greater with a given well-being measure. This strategy is
consistent with our prior research on the effects of women’s social
roles (Stephens and Townsend 1997). Only the correlation between
household income and depression (r = –.22) met or exceeded this
level. Thus, household income and the caregiver’s physical health
were included as control variables in all analyses. Because six respondents did not report household income, the sample size was N = 290.
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
203
Zero-order correlations between all study measures are presented
in Table 1. Greater physical health was significantly correlated with
less depressive symptoms and more life satisfaction. Conversely,
higher levels of stress in each of the roles were significantly associated
with more depressive symptoms and less life satisfaction. Bivariate
correlation coefficients further revealed that higher levels of
dispositional optimism were significantly related to less depressive
symptoms and more life satisfaction.
ANALYSIS PLAN
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to test the
hypothesis that dispositional optimism buffers the relationship
between role stress and well-being. Two hierarchical multiple regression analyses (one for each of the two indices of well-being; depressive symptoms and life satisfaction), were conducted. These regression analyses followed the moderation conditions put forth by Baron
and Kenny (1986). These conditions specify that moderation effects
with continuous variables are demonstrated when the interaction of
the two predictor variables (i.e., role stress and optimism) is significantly related (p ≤ .05) to the criterion variable (i.e., depressive symptoms or life satisfaction) beyond the main effects of the predictor variables. Prior to the formation of the interaction term, the predictor (role
stress) and moderator (optimism) variables were centered to reduce
the potential for multicollinearity between the interaction term and its
components (Aiken and West 1991; Jaccard, Turrisi, and Wan 1990).
That is, deviation scores were created for each participant by subtracting the sample mean for that scale from the individual’s score. The
covariates (i.e., physical health and income) were also centered in a
similar fashion so that zero represented the mean for each covariate.
Otherwise, the inclusion of noncentered covariates into the regression
analyses would show the relationships between the predictor and outcome variables with physical health and income held constant at absolute zero, a number less meaningful than the mean value for each
covariate.
To provide complete analyses of the effects of optimism, each of
the role stress measures, and each of the moderating effects on wellbeing, both regression analyses included all of these measures. Thus,
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TABLE 1
Zero-Order Correlations Between Study Measures (N = 290)
1
1. Income
2. Physical health
3. Parent care stress
4. Mother stress
5. Wife stress
6. Employee stress
7. Optimism
8. Depression
9. Life satisfaction
.—
*p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01. ***p ≤ .001.
2
.18***
.—
3
–.11
–.12*
.—
4
–.11*
–.14**
.20***
.—
5
–.21***
–.22***
.31***
.41***
.—
6
.03
–.12*
.24***
.28***
.30***
.—
7
.09
.25***
–.13*
–.23***
–.19***
–.19***
.—
8
–.22***
–.30***
.31***
.22***
.45***
.34***
–.42***
.—
9
.10
.30***
–.15**
–.32***
–.40***
–.21***
.49***
–.52***
.—
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
205
for both regression analyses, household income and physical health
were entered first into the equation as one block. Second, stressors in
all four roles and optimism were entered into the equation separately.
Finally, all four interaction terms between stress in each role and
dispositional optimism were each entered into the equation separately.
We conducted additional analyses where we focused on the interaction between stress in each specific role and optimism, after controlling for the main effects of stress in the focal role, optimism, and stress
in the other three roles. The pattern of results was identical to analyses
in which all predictors and interaction terms were included in each
equation. As the analyses that included all predictors and interaction
terms provide more parsimonious presentations of variable relationships, only these analyses are presented.
For each significant interaction effect detected, a decomposition
analysis was conducted to explore this effect (Aiken and West 1991;
Jaccard et al. 1990). That is, the slopes of well-being on the predictor
variable (i.e., simple slopes) were examined at high and low levels of
the moderator variable (one standard deviation above and one below
the mean, respectively), using unstandardized regression coefficients,
to determine if the significant interaction conformed to the buffering
hypothesis of dispositional optimism on role stress. In the absence of a
moderation effect for any given analysis, the simultaneous main
effects of role stress and optimism were examined, with significant
(p ≤ .05) standardized coefficients (β) (average simple effects; Aiken
and West 1991) indicating main effects.
Results
Results of the regression analyses testing the hypothesis that
dispositional optimism would buffer the relationship between stress in
each social role (i.e., parent care, mother, wife, and employee) and
psychological well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms or life satisfaction) are presented in Table 2. The unstandardized coefficients (b),
standard errors (SE), and standardized coefficients (β) by stress in
each role, optimism, and the interactions of role stress and optimism
are displayed. The regression equations were significant at or beyond
the .001 level. The total amounts of variance accounted for in depressive symptoms and life satisfaction were .36 and .33, respectively.
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TABLE 2
Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses for Stress Buffering (N = 290)
Depression
Independent Variables
Covariates
Income
Physical health
Main effects
PC stress
MO stress
WF stress
EM stress
Optimism
Interaction efects
PC Stress × Optimism
MO Stress × Optimism
WF Stress × Optimism
EM Stress × Optimism
Life Satisfaction
SE
β
–0.89
–0.63
.37
.22
–.12**
–.15**
1.84
–0.35
4.16
2.41
–0.59
.96
.90
.97
.76
.11
0.11
0.05
–0.57
0.16
.20
.18
.20
.16
b
SE
β
–0.04
0.22
.12
.07
–.02
.16**
.10*
–.02
.24***
.16**
–.28***
–0.20
–0.55
–1.34
–0.02
0.25
.32
.30
.32
.25
.04
.03
–.10
–.24***
.00
.38***
.03
.04
–.16**
.06
0.05
–0.02
0.15
–0.09
.07
.06
.07
.05
.04
–.02
.13*
–.10
b
NOTE: Both equations are significant at p ≤ .001. PC = parent care; MO = mother role; WF =
wife role; EM = employee role.
*p ≤ .05. **p ≤ .01. ***p ≤ .001.
With respect to depressive symptoms, results revealed a significant
interaction effect between wife stress and optimism on depressive
symptoms, after considering the control variables, stress in each of the
roles, optimism, and the interactions between stress in the other three
roles and optimism. Thus, a decomposition analysis was performed
for this interaction term. The results displayed in Figure 1 indicate that
the slope of depressive symptoms on wife stress was significantly different from zero at low levels of optimism, b = 6.93, t(286) = 5.07, p ≤
.001, but not at high levels of optimism, b = 1.39, t(286) = 1.01, p >
.05). Consistent with predictions, higher levels of wife stress were
related to greater depressive symptoms only for those women with
lower levels of dispositional optimism. Specifically, a 9-point difference in depressive symptoms between low versus high wife stress was
found for those with lower levels of optimism, whereas little difference in depressive symptoms between low versus high wife stress was
noted for those with higher levels of optimism.
The interaction terms between parent care stress and optimism,
mother stress and optimism, and employee stress and optimism failed
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207
Figure 1: Interaction Between Wife Stress and Optimism on Depressive Symptoms
to reach statistical significance. However, simultaneous main effects
of parent care stress and optimism, as well as employee stress and
optimism were observed in the equation focused on depressive symptoms. The signs of the beta coefficients indicated that higher levels of
parent care stress and employee stress were related to greater depressive symptoms, whereas higher levels of optimism were independently related to lower depressive symptoms.
Turning to analyses focused on life satisfaction, an interaction
effect between wife stress and optimism was detected, after considering the control variables, stress in each of the roles, optimism, and the
interactions between stress in the other three roles and optimism. As
displayed in Figure 2, results from the decomposition analysis indicated that the slope of life satisfaction on wife stress was significantly
different from zero at low levels of optimism, b = –2.05, t(286) =
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Figure 2: Interaction Between Wife Stress and Optimism on Life Satisfaction
–4.56, p ≤ .001, but not at high levels of optimism, b = –0.63, t(286) =
–1.38, p > .05. Consistent with the buffering hypothesis, higher levels
of wife stress were associated with lower levels of life satisfaction
only for women with lower levels of dispositional optimism. Specifically, a 3-point difference in life satisfaction between low and high
wife stress was found for those with lower levels of optimism, whereas
little difference in life satisfaction between low and high wife stress
was noted for those with higher levels of optimism.
No other interaction effects were found in the analysis focused on
life satisfaction. However, a significant main effect was observed only
for optimism, with higher levels of optimism relating to greater life
satisfaction. No simultaneous main effects were detected in the absence
of an interaction effect.
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
209
Discussion
The present study investigated the relationships between dispositional optimism, role-specific stressors, and psychological wellbeing among adult daughter caregivers who occupy additional roles.
Dispositional optimism was found to have both complex (i.e., moderating or stress-buffering effects) and simple (i.e., main effects) effects
on the psychological well-being of these women. These associations
between optimism, role stress, and psychological well-being were
independent of the influences of household income and physical
health on psychological well-being.
With respect to the complex effects, findings provided partial support for the suggestion that global or generalized expectancies, such as
dispositional optimism, can influence specific outcomes (Carver and
Scheier 1998). Consistent with predictions, optimism was found to
moderate (or reduce) the negative effects of wife stress on psychological well-being. Specifically, higher levels of wife stress were related to
greater depressive symptoms (and lower life satisfaction) for those
with lower levels of optimism, whereas wife stress was not significantly related to depressive symptoms (or life satisfaction) for those
with higher levels of optimism. Although the magnitude of these moderation effects was relatively small, these effects were similar to those
documented in prior research (Bromberger and Matthews 1996).
Inconsistent with predictions, the present study failed to detect moderating effects of optimism on the relationships between stress in the
other three roles (parent care, mother, or employee) and psychological
well-being.
One possible explanation for the unique relationship between optimism, wife stress, and well-being may be that the reduction of stress in
the wife role may be particularly critical for the psychological wellbeing of these women. The present study found that wife stress was
most strongly correlated with psychological well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) compared with stress in the other
roles, supporting prior suggestions in the general literature on subjective well-being that the marital relationship is one of the most important determinants of psychological well-being (Diener et al. 1999;
Gove, Style, and Hughes 1990). The strong relationship between wife
stress and psychological well-being found in the present study is also
similar to findings from prior research that has simultaneously examin-
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ed stress in women’s social roles, including parenting and employment stress (Kandel, Davies and, Raveis 1985; McKinlay et al. 1990).
Women may dedicate personal resources, such as generalized optimistic expectancies, to reduce the effects of stress in this consequential role. That is, optimists may focus or direct their positive expectancies toward alleviating the impact of this important source of stress,
due to the strong influence wife stress can have on determining women’s
psychological well-being (e.g., “Despite disagreements with my husband, things will work out for me in the future”). While stressors
related to the mother, parent care, and employee roles were associated
with poorer psychological well-being in the present study, the magnitude of the negative associations of these stressors with well-being
were smaller compared with that of wife stress and may not have warranted the need to dedicate the use of personal resources toward their
reduction. Further research is needed to determine whether women
use personal resources, such as optimism, in this manner.
Concerning the simple effects, optimism was found to be associated with depressive symptoms, even after considering the detrimental effects of stress in specific social roles. Adult daughter caregivers
who had higher levels of dispositional optimism reported less depressive symptomology, even after considering the significant effects of
parent care and employee stress on depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that optimism can be beneficial to the psychological wellbeing of employed caregivers, independent of the negative effects of
stress stemming from caregiving and employment specific experiences. Higher levels of optimism were also related to greater life satisfaction, although simultaneous main effects of optimism and role
stress were not found in the absence of moderation effects. While the
personal resources literature has documented that higher levels of
dispositional optimism are associated with better psychological
well-being (Andersson 1996; Chang 1998; Scheier and Carver 1992;
Scheier, Carver, and Bridges 1994), the present study extends this literature by demonstrating beneficial effects of optimism on well-being
that are independent of domain-specific stress effects on health.
The present results are consistent with the gerontology literature
that has found higher levels of dispositional optimism to be related to
better psychological well-being among those who provide care to ill
or disabled family members (Hooker et al. 1992; Kurtz et al. 1995).
The influence of stress has seldom been considered or controlled for
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
211
when examining the effects of optimism on psychological well-being
among caregivers in prior research. Thus, the present study extends
the gerontology literature by showing that optimism can enhance
caregivers’ psychological well-being within the context of stressful
experiences in a specific social (i.e., parent care) role.
The present results partially converge with previous research that
has examined the stress-buffering effects of optimism (Bromberger
and Matthews 1996; Lai 1995) by showing that optimism can buffer
the negative effects of wife stress on psychological well-being. However, the present study differs from previous research in several important ways. While past research has found that optimism buffered the
negative effects of stress on depressive symptoms (Bromberger and
Matthews 1996), the present study demonstrates that optimism can
also serve as a buffer in the relationship between stress and more positive aspects of psychological well-being (i.e., life satisfaction). Although
prior research has suggested that life satisfaction and negative aspects
of psychological well-being are conceptually and empirically distinct
(Lucas et al. 1996), in the present study, optimism influenced both of
these outcomes similarly by reducing the detrimental effects of wife
stress on both life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Finally, the
present study’s conceptualization of stress as problematic experiences
in specific social roles differs from previous research on stress buffering, which defined stress as life events occurring in any life domain
(Bromberger and Matthews 1996) or hassles occurring in an academic
setting (Lai 1995). Results suggest that the nature of the relationship
between role stress, optimism, and psychological well-being may differ depending on the particular role being considered.
Some prior explanations of the health benefits of optimism have
centered on the reduction of the detrimental health effects of stress,
emphasizing the possibilities that those high in optimism (i.e., optimists) may use more adaptive or effective coping strategies when
stress occurs (Carver et al. 1993; Scheier, Weintraub, and Carver 1986)
or may alter the meaning or appraisal of problematic or stressful events
(Chang 1998). While these explanations may apply to the stressbuffering effects of optimism in the wife role, they cannot account for
the findings that greater optimism was related to better psychological
well-being after controlling for the detrimental effects of stressors
experienced in specific social roles.
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An alternative explanation for the beneficial effects of optimism on
the psychological well-being of adult daughter caregivers with multiple roles rests in the possibility that these generalized expectancies
may prompt one to seek out or to alienate social network members
(Scheier and Carver 1987), which, in turn, influences psychological
well-being. As research has documented that others tend to react negatively to and avoid those who are depressed (Coyne 1976; Coyne
et al. 1987; Strack and Coyne 1983), it has been similarly argued that
individuals with lower levels of optimism are more likely to experience rejection from, or avoidance by, others (Scheier and Carver
1987). Based on this argument, individuals with higher levels of optimism would be less likely to estrange supportive others. However,
research examining the relationship between optimism and social
support has been equivocal. Some research has found optimism to be
significantly related to social support seeking (Scheier et al. 1986),
while others have found optimism to be unrelated to social support
seeking (Taylor et al. 1992). Optimism was also found to be unrelated
to the use of social support among women (Carver et al. 1993). Thus,
empirical support for the suggestion that dispositional optimism may
influence social resources to enhance the well-being of women with
multiple roles that include parent care is inconsistent. As noted by others (Lai 1995), additional research exploring mediators of the beneficial effects of optimism on well-being remains an important future
direction for scientific pursuit.
One limitation of the present study is its cross-sectional design and
the corresponding uncertainty about the causal direction of the relationships between the study constructs. It is possible that role stress
and optimism did not precede poorer psychological well-being as our
model asserts, but that caregivers who were less depressed (or who
were more satisfied with life) perceived their role-related experiences
as less stressful and developed more positive future expectancies.
Longitudinal research, however, has demonstrated that both stress and
optimism are antecedent to increases in depressive symptoms (e.g.,
Bromberger and Matthews 1996).
Another limitation of the present study pertains to the generalizability of the findings. The fact that all respondents included were
self-selected may raise some concerns about the representativeness of
the sample. On one hand, these adult daughters may have been unusually stressed by the experience of occupying the parent care role in
Atienza et al. / DISPOSITIONAL OPTIMISM
213
addition to other social roles or pessimistic and, therefore, participated in the research to express their distress or to gain some understanding of their difficulties. On the other hand, these adult daughter
caregivers may have been unusually well-adjusted to their multiple
roles or optimistic given that they had the time and energy to participate in this study. To reduce the potential for these types of bias, we
relied on a wide variety of sources for recruitment of respondents
(Barer and Johnson 1990).
Furthermore, it is not known to what extent the present findings
would generalize to caregivers with ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds that differ from those included in this study. The household
income reported by caregivers in this study was comparable with the
median income of married couples with both spouses in the paid labor
force (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1996), and the sample closely
resembled the proportion of African American women in the region
where this study was conducted (U.S. Bureau of the Census 1992b).
Still, the present sample is largely White and middle-class, and the
results of the present study may not pertain to caregivers with fewer
financial resources or to caregivers from other racial-ethnic
backgrounds.
In conclusion, the results of our study suggest that positive expectancies of outcomes in life can have beneficial effects on psychological well-being among women who simultaneously occupy multiple
roles, including parent care. Evidence for the stress-buffering effects
of optimism was documented in the present study, although these
effects were limited to stressful experiences stemming from the wife
role. The present study further noted that dispositional optimism
directly contributed to the psychological well-being of adult daughter
caregivers who occupied multiple roles, irrespective of the detrimental effects of stress in specific social roles (e.g., caregiving). Further
research aimed at understanding possible underlying mechanisms
through which optimism influences well-being is indicated.
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Audie A. Atienza, Ph.D., is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Stanford Center for
Research in Disease Prevention, Stanford University School of Medicine. His
research interests include family caregiving, health promotion, cardiovascular disease prevention, and ethnic minority health.
Mary Ann Parris Stephens, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychology at
Kent State University. Her research focuses on the interplay between chronically ill
older adults and their caregiving families. Recent publications have investigated the
stress of providing parent care for women who occupy multiple family and work roles.
Aloen L. Townsend, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Mandel School of Applied
Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. She is currently principal investigator on a longitudinal study of physical health and depressive symptoms in married
couples, funded by the National Institute on Aging.