Perceptions of injustice in family work: the role of psychological distress.

During the transition to parenthood, perceived imbalances in family work typically increase. Little is known, however, about which individuals are especially prone to perceive unfairness in the division of family work during this time. Using data from a longitudinal study of married couples expecting their first child and controlling for marital distress and other relevant variables, we observed that when husbands were psychologically distressed, both they and their wives were subsequently more likely to perceive unfairness to wives in the division of family work. No analogous significant and prospective effects of wives' levels of distress on their own or their husbands' perceptions of unfairness were found. We also found that once wives perceived the amount of child care they did as unfair, both they and their husbands were later more likely to experience psychological distress, controlling for marital distress and other relevant variables. Copyright 2004 American Psychological Association