Mental Health, Social Roles and the Gendered Life Course

• In Event: 277 - Regular Session. Advancing Research on Mental Health Disparities

Abstract

This study examines variations in the effects of work and family roles on mental health as men and women age through the life course. Results indicate that as women age towards midlife, parenthood shifts from being positively to negatively associated with symptoms of depression. In contrast, the effect of parenthood on men’s depression does not vary as they grow older. Though men and women both receive greater mental health benefits from employment as they approach midlife, the effects of combining employment with parenthood vary by gender and the age of children. These findings highlight gender differences in the saliency of parenthood and employment for shaping the age-gradient in depressive symptoms during adulthood, and suggest that mental health over the life course remains tethered to traditionally gendered roles.

Author

• Katrina Leupp, Washington State University