Sex-role beliefs, work attitudes and mental health in employed and non-employed mothers.

The attitudes of mothers to their home and child-care role, to their employment role and to sex roles are potentially important correlates of mental health but have been little researched. Results from a general population survey of 160 working-class mothers of young children suggest that dissatisfaction with the home-maker role is associated with higher levels of psychiatric symptoms, psychological distress and self-depreciation. These relationships are strongest for full-time home-makers. For employed mothers, dual-role conflict was more strongly associated with psychological distress than was job satisfaction. Liberal sex-role attitudes were associated with lower psychiatric symptom levels in employed mothers and with higher self-esteem in non-employed mothers. There was a significant interaction between employment status and sex-role beliefs in relation to anxiety. Employed mothers with traditional attitudes and non-employed mothers with liberal attitudes were more anxious. This result was replicated in an independent sample of 200 working-class and middle-class mothers.