Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T22:20:09.389Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Motherhood, Employment and the Development of Depression

A Replication of a Finding?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

G. W. Brown  and
A. Bifulco
G. W. Brown*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Policy and Social Science, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (University of London), 11 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3RA
A. Bifulco
Affiliation:
Department of Social Policy and Social Science, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (University of London), 11 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3RA
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A prospective inquiry of a largely working-class sample of women with children considers the effect of employment on risk of developing clinical depression. The hypothesis was that there would be a direct protective effect arising from employment once quality of other support was taken into account. In fact full-time working mothers were at high risk. This appeared to be explained by either prior work strain or a severe event involving ‘deviant’ behaviour on the part of husband/boyfriend or child. Neither factor was relevant for part-time workers. The severe events appeared to be particularly depressogenic for full-time workers because they represented either failure in the motherhood role or a sense of entrapment in an unrewarding work/domestic situation. However, those in part-time work had a low rate of onset compared with non-workers, and the difference appears to be related to non-working women feeling less secure about their marriages.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 156 , Issue 2 , February 1990 , pp. 169 - 179
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alloway, R. & Bebbington, P. (1987) The buffer theory of social support – a review of the literature. Psychological Medicine, 17, 91–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aneshensel, C. S., Frericks, R. R. & Clark, V. A. (1981) Family roles and sex differences in depression. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 22, 379–393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, P. E., Hurry, J., Tennant, C., et al (1981) Epidemiology of mental disorders in Camberwell. Psychological Medicine, 11, 561–580.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bebbington, P. E., Sturt, E., Tennant, C., et al (1984) Misfortune and resilience: a community study of women. Psychological Medicine, 14, 347–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boulton, M. G. (1983) On Being A Mother. A Study of Women with Pre-School Children. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. (1974) Life events and the onset of depressive and schizophrenic conditions. In Life Stress and Illness (eds Gunderson, E. K. E. & Rae, R. H.). Springfield, Illinois: C. C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. (1989) Depression. In Life Events and Illness (eds Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. O.). New York: Guilford Press; London: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. (1990) A psychosocial view of depression. In Community Psychiatry (eds Bennett, D. H. & Freeman, H.). London: Churchill Livingstone (in press).Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., Craig, T. & Harris, T. (1985) Depression: disease or distress? Some epidemiological considerations. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 612–622.10.1192/bjp.147.6.612CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1978) Social Origins of Depression: A Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., & Rutter, M. (1966) The measurement of family activities and relationships: a methodological study. Human Relations, 19, 241–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. W., Bifulco, A. & Harris, T. (1987) Life events, vulnerability and onset of depression: some refinements. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 30–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W., Andrews, B., Harris, T., et al (1986) Social support, self-esteem and depression. Psychological Medicine, 16, 813–831.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1986) The Bedford College studies of depression. In Life Events and Psychiatric Disorders: Controversial Issues (ed. Katschnig, H.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W., & Harris, T. (1989) Life Events and Illness. New York: Guilford Press; London: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Campbell, E., Cope, S. & Teasdale, J. (1983) Social factors and affective disorder: an investigation of Brown and Harris's model. British Journal of Psychiatry, 14, 548–553.10.1192/bjp.143.6.548CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cleary, P. D. & Mechanic, D. (1983) Sex differences in psychological distress among married people. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 111–121.10.2307/2136638CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cooper, J., Copeland, J., Brown, G., et al (1977) Further studies on interviewer training and inter-rater reliability of the Present State Examination (P.S.E.). Psychological Medicine, 7, 517–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, C., Surtees, P. G. & Sashidharan, S. P. (1983) Comparison of research diagnostic systems in an Edinburgh community sample. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 243–256.10.1192/bjp.142.3.247CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finlay-Jones, R., Brown, G. W., Duncan-Jones, R., et al (1980) Depression and anxiety in the community: replicating the diagnosis of a case. Psychological Medicine, 10, 445–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldthorpe, J. & Hope, K. (1974) The Social Grading of Occupations: a New Approach and Scale. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gore, W. R. & Geerkin, M. R. (1977) The effect of children and employment on the mental health of married men and women. Social Forces, 56, 66–76.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. & McRae, J. (1982) The effect of wives' employment on the mental health of married men and women. American Sociological Review, 47, 216–227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lennon, M. C. (1987) Sex differences in distress: the impact of gender and work roles. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 28, 290–305.10.2307/2136847CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, P. McC., Kreitman, N. B., Ingham, J. G., et al (1980) Self-esteem, life stress and psychiatric disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 17, 65–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moss, P. & Plewis, I. (1977) Mental distress in mothers of preschool children in inner London. Psychological Medicine, 7, 641–652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, P. & Brown, G. (1984) Supportive relationships: fact or fancy? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 1, 159–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oakley, A. (1974) The Sociology of Housework. Oxford: Martin Robertson.Google Scholar
Parry, G. (1986) Paid employment, life events, social support, and mental health in working-class mothers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 27, 193–208.10.2307/2136316CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinton, D., Rutter, M. & Rowlands, O. (1976) An evaluation of an interview assessment of marriage. Psychological Medicine, 6, 577–586.10.1017/S0033291700018201CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radloff, L. (1975) Sex differences in depression: the effects of occupation and marital status. Sex Roles, 1, 249–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenfield, S. (1980) Sex differences in depression: do women always have higher ratings? Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 21, 33–42.10.2307/2136692CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ross, C. E., Mirowsky, J. & Huber, J. (1983) Dividing work, sharing work and in-between: marriage patterns and depression. American Sociological Review, 48, 809–823.10.2307/2095327CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. & Brown, G. (1966) The reliability and validity of measures of family life and relationships in families containing a psychiatric patient. Social Psychiatry, 1, 38–53.10.1007/BF00583828CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sashidharan, S. P. (1985) Definitions of psychiatric syndromes – comparison in hospital patients and general population. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 547–551.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Surtees, P., Dean, C., Ingham, J., et al (1983) Psychiatric disorder in women in Edinburgh community: associations with demographic factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 238–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warr, P. & Parry, G. (1982a) Paid employment and women's psychological well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 498–516.10.1037/0033-2909.91.3.498CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warr, P. & Parry, G. (1982b) Depressed mood in working-class mothers with and without paid employment. Journal of Social Psychiatry, 17, 161–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wing, J., Nixon, J., Mann, S., et al (1977) Reliability of the PSE (ninth edition) used in a population study. Psychological Medicine, 7, 505–516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wing, J., Cooper, J. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms: An Instruction Manual for the Present State Examination and CATEGO Programme. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.