An intersectional analysis of women's social role engagement and mental health

Abstract

Objective Guided by role theory and the intersectionality framework, this study assesses whether social role volume, role type, and role configuration influence the mental health of Non‐Latina White, African American, Afro‐Caribbean, Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Chinese, Filipina, and Vietnamese American women. Background Contemporary shifts in the primary roles (i.e., worker, spouse, parent) women occupy and in the ethnic composition of the United States necessitate a re‐examination of how roles impact U.S. women's mental health. Moreover, family member and friend roles are relatively understudied. Method Drawing data from the nationally representative Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) (N = 7370), ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis is used to assess the relationship between role volume, role type, role configuration, and mental health for women across nine ethnic groups. We report ethnicity‐stratified models. Results On one hand, role accumulation was psychologically beneficial for Non‐Latina White, African American, Puerto Rican, and Chinese women. On the other hand, the psychological benefits of social roles diminished after accumulating three social roles for Cuban, Mexican, and Filipina women. The psychological influence of specific roles and role configurations for women was dependent on ethnicity. Conclusion This study demonstrates the powerful impact of ethnicity on social role engagement as well as the influence of such roles on women's psychological health.

Multiple socioeconomic risks and cognitive impairment among older men and women in India

“…social support) and psychological resources (e.g., mastery and self-esteem) [ 80 ], improves mental health [ 81 ], which ultimately is consequential for cognitive functioning. That said, employed women often are faced with work-family conflict given the often competing demands attached to paid work and their roles as spouse, parent, and caregiver [ [82] , [83] , [84] , [85] ]. Given gender socialization, Indian women often shoulder the responsibility of providing direct care to their parents and parents-in-laws [ 86 ].…”

Local Confederate Memorialization and Gender-Ethnic Variation in Mental Health among Black Residents

“…Moreover, our examination of potential differences in mental health across gender-ethnic status leads us to employ these three distinct but complementary measures. Our more holistic assessment of psychological adjustment is warranted because associations between stressors and mental health will likely differ across the examined groups due to complex socialization processes (e.g., gendered expressions of distress) and the varying levels of resources people may access to cope with challenges (Erving, Wright, and Lara 2022;Jones and Erving 2015).…”

“…Memorials will likely factor more strongly into African Americans’ mental health than Afro-Caribbeans’ given that African Americans have disproportionate historical and contemporary residence in former Confederate states (i.e., the region with the preponderance of memorials), are connected to the U.S. institution of slavery, and are the primary target of persistent efforts by others to deploy Confederate symbols to intimidate, undermine, and extinguish calls for dignity, justice, and equality (Southern Poverty Law Center [SPLC] 2022; Talbert 2022). We stratify analyses by gender because we anticipate that associations with Confederate memorials will be more strongly associated with Black women’s mental health than men’s since research identifies gender differences in the experience of stressors; women often have less access to health-buffering resources; and gendered manifestations of adverse mental health (Keith and Brown 2017; Moody, Thomas Tobin, and Erving 2022; Thoits 2010).…”