Cross-over Effects of Job Autonomy and Working Time on Mental Distress among Dual-earner Couples

A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID15329980
AuthorsLixia Wang (0000-0002-8948-7585, Lixia Wang, School of Public Administration, Shanxi University of Finance & Economics, Taiyuan, China, corresponding author), Fenwick Feng Jing (0000-0002-3068-5560, Qufu Normal University), Jinya Chen (Jinya Chen, Nanjing Foreign Language School, Nanjung, China), Qiaoqiao Wang (0000-0001-9275-1765, Qiaoqiao Wang, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong), Senhu Wang (0000-0002-0065-7059, Senhu Wang, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore, Singapore;, Email: [email protected])
Year2024
Volume48
Issue2
Pages150-160
Publication date2024-04-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Health Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1087-3244 • E-ISSN: 1945-7359
PublisherPNG Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.5993/ajhb.48.2.14
OpenAlexW4396837415
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

Objectives: Autonomy over job tasks, timing, and methods has become increasingly crucial for worker health and wellbeing. Despite extensive research on job autonomy's impact on individual mental distress, its spousal crossover effect in dual-earner couples, a growing workforce demographic, remains less understood. Methods: Using longitudinal dyadic data from the United Kingdom, we examine the dyadic relationship between job autonomy and mental distress among couples, and how it depends on job demands, such as working time. Results: Findings indicate that job autonomy can significantly reduce both spouses' own mental distress but indicate notable gender disparities in spousal crossover effects with husbands' job autonomy exerting a more substantial impact on their wives' mental distress than vice versa. Furthermore, a wife's job autonomy can more significantly reduce her mental distress, as well as her husband's, particularly when she works overtime. In contrast, the benefits of a husband's job autonomy for his own mental health persist regardless of his working time but are more evident for his wife when he works part-time. Conclusions: Overall, these insights highlight the gender-related interplay of job autonomy, working time, and mental distress, emphasizing the value of devising workplace health policies to satisfy the diverse needs among dual-earner couples

Autonomy · Developmental psychology · Distress · Dual (grammatical number · Longitudinal study · Mental distress · Mental health · Political science · Psychiatry · Clinical Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges

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