Symptom reports and illness behavior among employed women and homemakers

A positive and statistically significant relationship was found between the number of a woman's role responsibilities and theNumber of symptom complexes she reported, and family pressures seem to be more important in the generation of symptoms than the woman's employment status.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which women's roles are associated with their symptom reporting and their illness behavior. Data were obtained from 259 married women residing in a probability sample of households in a single community. A positive and statistically significant relationship was found between the number of a woman's role responsibilities and the number of symptom complexes she reported. The best multivariate model to explain the variance in symptom-complex reporting included two variables related to the woman's role demands, having an ill spouse and having three or more children. Role density had only modest effects on illness behavior. Women who were employed or who had an ill child were significantly less likely to cut down on their activity because of symptoms than were women with neither responsibility. Women who had children of preschool age were more likely to consult the lay network for their symptoms than were women whose children were older. Family pressures seem to be more important in the generation of symptoms than the woman's employment status. Women's roles had minimal effect on their illness behavior.