No abstract

Despite the fact that important gender differences in drug and alcohol use have been previously reported, little research to date has focused on gender differences with regard to nonmedical prescription opioid use. This study preliminarily examined the presenting characteristics and correlates (e.g., age of onset, route of administration, motives for using, method of introduction) of men and women with prescription opioid dependence. Participants were 24 (12 men, 12 women) non-treatment seeking individuals at least 18 years of age with current (i.e., past 12 months) prescription opioid dependence who participated in an in-depth interview. The average age of onset of prescription opioid use was 22.2 years (SD = 8.5). In comparison to men, women were approximately six years older when they initiated prescription opioid use, but were only three years older when they began to use prescription opioids regularly (i.e., weekly), suggesting an accelerated course of disease progression among women. Over half of the sample (61.5%) endorsed chewing and almost half (45.8%) endorsed crushing and snorting prescription opioids. Men were significantly more likely than women to crush and snort prescription opioids (75.0% vs. 16.7%; p = 0.01). Women were significantly more likely than men to be motivated to use prescription opioids in order to cope with interpersonal stress, and to use them first thing in the morning (ps = 0.04). Concomitant alcohol and other drug use were common among both men and women. The findings highlight clinically relevant gender differences and may help enhance the design of gender-sensitive screening and treatment interventions for prescription opioids.

The gender pay gap most seriously affects women with children-a situation labeled the motherhood penalty. One common explanation is that mothers value family more than employment, leading to reduced work commitment and hence to lower pay. Using a questionnaire, we examined the relationship between endorsement of two work-related values (family and power), anticipated work commitment, and expected peak pay among 229 undergraduates at a southeastern U.S. university. Men expected higher peak salaries, valued power more and family less than women. For both genders, valuing power predicted higher expected peak salary and valuing family predicted lower anticipated work commitment. For women, reduced work commitment, in turn, predicted lower anticipated peak pay. For men, valuing family predicted higher peak pay expectations.

The present study examined the experience of work-family spillover among 586 hotel managers (HMs) working in 50 full-service hotels throughout the U.S. Work-family spillover occurs when behaviors, moods, stresses, and emotions from work spill over into family. We first investigated which hotel managers were more likely to experience spillover and stressful work conditions based on their life circumstances (gender, parental status, age, decision-making latitude at work). Second, we investigated which work conditions (hours worked per week, organizational time expectations, emotional labor, and permeable boundaries) predicted more work-family spillover. Women, employees without children at home, and younger adults experienced the highest levels of negative work-family spillover. Work conditions, particularly organizational time expectations, put HMs at risk for experiencing more negative and less positive work-family spillover. The results provide evidence that modifying certain work conditions in the hotel industry may be helpful in improving the quality of HMs’ jobs and retention.

Although job stress models suggest that changing the work social environment to increase job resources improves psychological health, many intervention studies have weak designs and overlook influences of family caregiving demands. We tested the effects of an organizational intervention designed to increase supervisor social support for work and nonwork roles, and job control in a results-oriented work environment on the stress and psychological distress of health care employees who care for the elderly, while simultaneously considering their own family caregiving responsibilities. Using a group-randomized organizational field trial with an intent-to-treat design, 420 caregivers in 15 intervention extended-care nursing facilities were compared with 511 caregivers in 15 control facilities at 4 measurement times: preintervention and 6, 12, and 18 months. There were no main intervention effects showing improvements in stress and psychological distress when comparing intervention with control sites. Moderation analyses indicate that the intervention was more effective in reducing stress and psychological distress for caregivers who were also caring for other family members off the job (those with elders and those "sandwiched" with both child and elder caregiving responsibilities) compared with employees without caregiving demands. These findings extend previous studies by showing that the effect of organizational interventions designed to increase job resources to improve psychological health varies according to differences in nonwork caregiving demands. This research suggests that caregivers, especially those with "double-duty" elder caregiving at home and work and "triple-duty" responsibilities, including child care, may benefit from interventions designed to increase work-nonwork social support and job control. (PsycINFO Database Record