Occupational Stress of Adolescence Working Mothers

ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH An interdisciplinary approaches

Occupational Stress of Adolescence Working Mothers Sindhu Sivan & K.Sathyamurthi

ABSTRACT It is an ever rising number of urban married women entering formal workforce; increasing amount of work stress both at home and workplace and its impact on family and children development. The paper on Impact of occupational stress on Adolescent Health: a study of working women of Chennai city was undertaken with the objectives to know socio personal characteristics of selected categories of working women; to examine working conditions of selected categories of working women and to analyse the impact of occupational stress on their adolescent children health as perceived by selected respondents. The study was conducted in Chennai city and a total sample of 30 respondents was selected from three categories of working women namely; Bank employees, IT employees and college teachers with 10 respondents in each category. Results showed 21%respondents were having work stress.Their involvement in physical development and food habits of adolescents were high while in emotional development was moderate. Key Words: Occupational Stress, Working Mothers, Adolescent Health

I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Adolescence is one of the important periods of life. It is characterized by innumerable and unique problems. With the demands of globalization, the nature and number of challenges have become still more compared to the yesteryears. Family, which plays an important role in the personality development of adolescents, is undergoing structural, emotional and interactional transformations. The contributions of mothers in shaping the personality of their children cannot be ignored. But an unprecedented number of women, especially mothers are entering the labour force either due to economic necessity or in search of identity. This has led to radical shift in the traditional role of mother as a ‘care taker’ to a ‘bread earner’ and has altered child rearing goals and practices. Occupational stress is stress involving work. It is one of the major health hazards of the modern workplace. It accounts for much of the physical illness, substance abuse, and 292


family problems experienced by workers. Working mothers, as a label, refers to women who are mothers and who work outside the home for income in addition to the work they perform at home in raising their children. Work and family are the two important aspects in women’s life. Balancing work and family roles has become a key personal and family issue for many societies. There are many facets in working mother’s lives that subject to stresses. They deal with home and family issues as well as job stress on a daily basis. World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition Occupational or work-related stress “is the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.”

II. LITERATURE REVIEW The effects of parental work stress on children’s and adolescents’ adjustment appear to be indirect. Work stress is linked to parents’ feelings of overload and strain, which in turn predict lower parent-child acceptance and higher conflict, processes that in turn are related to less positive adjustment of children and adolescents. In the face of high work stress, withdrawing from family involvement may be adaptive in the short run but ultimately problematic (Ann C. Crouter1 and Matthew F. Bumpus,2001) This study investigates how maternal employment is related to the outcomes of 10 and 11year olds, controlling for a wide variety of child, mother and family characteristics. The results suggest that limited amounts of work by mothers benefit youths who are relatively “disadvantaged” and even long hours, which occur relatively rarely, are unlikely to leave them much worse off. By contrast, maternal labor supply is estimated to have much more harmful effects on “advantaged” adolescents. Particularly striking are the reductions in cognitive test scores and increases in excess body weight predicted by even moderate amounts of employment. The negative cognitive effects occur partly because maternal labor supply reduces the time these children spend in enriching home environments. Some of the growth in obesity may be related to determinants of excess weight that are common to the child and mother. Work hours are also associated with relatively large (in percentage terms) increases in early substance use and small decreases in behavior problems; however, neither are statistically significant.(Christopher J. Ruhm,2005) 293


Vijayalaxmi & Bowlby (2007) have found that the adolescent children of home makers have significantly higher self-concept. The children of home makers have significantly higher selfconcept and higher achievement motivation than the children of employed mothers. The female children of home makers are having significantly higher emotional maturity compared to the male children of home makers. The children of employed mothers are more socially maladjusted and lacked independence to a very highly significant level compared to the children of home makers. On the other part depression is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders caused by several factors, including interpersonal relationships between individuals and the reactions and emotions of each individual expressed directly and discreetly to each other. An overwhelming 91% of working moms suffered some symptoms of depression. While many people are familiar with postpartum depression in the months after giving birth a lot of women are experiencing depressions (Maurice B. Mittelmark. (2009).

III.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Adolescence is an important transition into adulthood marked by numerous developmental, academic, and social challenges. While the exact age of adolescence is somewhat varied many researchers define this period as beginning around age 12 and ending between ages 18 to 20 (Tanti et al., 2010; Engels et al., 2002). Adolescence has been commonly regarded as a critical period for the physical and psychological development. During this stage, adolescents typically experience significant changes in their physical, cognitive, and social domain functioning (Tanti, Stukas, Halloran, & Foddy, 2010) .Adolescents are often thought of as a healthy group. Nevertheless, many adolescents do die prematurely due to accidents, suicide, violence, pregnancy related complications and other illnesses that are either preventable or treatable. Many more suffer chronic ill-health and disability. In addition, many serious diseases in adulthood have their roots in adolescence. For example, tobacco use, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, poor eating and exercise habits, lead to illness or premature death later in life. In this context, mothers play a crucial role in promoting adolescent’s health. But Women's roles in society are changing as they find themselves having to join the work force due to economic need. Balancing work and family roles has become a key personal and family issue for many societies. 294


There are many facets in working mother’s lives that subject to stresses. It will be thus worthwhile to attempt to study the impact of occupational stress of working mothers on adolescent health. By investing in adolescent health today, we invest in the workforce, parents, and leaders of tomorrow. IV. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES •

To understand the demographic characteristics of adolescences working women

•

To examine working conditions of selected categories of working women.

•

To analyze the impact of occupational stress on the respondent’s adolescent children health

V. METHODOLOGY The present study was conducted in Porur, in Thiruvallor District of Tamilnadu state. A representative sample of 10 women respondents from three professional groups namely bank employees, IT employees and College Teachers was selected by purposeful sampling method.. In all total 30 respondents were selected for the study .The interview schedule was used for collection of data. The interview schedule consisted of two parts. First part dealt with occupational stress for which “Occupational Stress Index” designed by Srivastav and Singh (1981) was administered to the selected sample. Second part of the tool deals about the role of respondents in adolescent health data for the study were collected through personal interview method. The data collected were tabulated and suitable statistical tools such as frequency, percentages, mean score, correlation were used for analysis of data. VI. MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY Researcher analyzed the primary data based on the objectives of the study and the it is highlighted by using various statistical tool. Socio Personal Characteristics of Working Women The below table shows the demographic variables of the working women and the age of all the respondents varied from 30 to 50 years.

295


Table-1 Demographic profile of respondents

Characteristics

Age(years) 30-35 36-40 41-50 No.of Childern One Two Age of Children 10-12 13-15

Bank Employees N=10

IT Employees N=10

Teachers N-10

Total 30

4(40) 4(40) 2(20)

8(80) 2(20) 0

3(30) 5(50) 2(20)

15(50) 11(37) 04(13)

6(60) 4(40)

9(90) 1(10)

6(60) 4(40)

21(70) 09(30)

6(60) 4(40)

9(90) 1(10)

6(60) 4(40)

21(70) 09(30)

Majority (50 per cent) of respondents were in the category of 30 to 35 years and (37 per cent) from 36-40 years of age. There were only about 13 per cent each in the age groups of 41-50. It was further observed that among bank employees 80 per cent were in the age group of 30 to 40 years. Where as in case of IT employees, 80 per cent were in age group of 30-40 years. In category of college teachers 50 per cent were from age group of 36to40 years while only 30 percent of teachers belonged to age group of 30to 35 years. Regarding number of children 70 per cent respondents were having only one child another 30 percent were having two children. In that 90 percent IT employees were having only one child while 60 percent bank employees and college teachers having one child. It is also observed from the table 1 that 70 percent children were under the age group of 10-12 years and 30 percent children were under 13-15 years. Extent of Occupational Stress Level in Selected Working Women The Occupational Stress Index was used to measure various aspects of stress among the working category of women. Some important aspects included in the scale were; role over load, role ambiguity, role conflict, unreasonable group or political pressure, responsibility for person ,under participation, powerlessness, poor peer relations, intrinsic improvishment, low status, strenuous working conditions and unprofitability.

296


Table 2 Occupational stress level (OSI) OSI Low Middle High

Bank employees IT N=10 N=10 2 0 6 8 2 2

Teachers N=10 7 3 0

Total 30 9 17 04

The scale comprised of 46 statements which were stored on a five point scale. It is observing from Table 2 that 9 per cent having low occupational stress. More than half i.e. 17 per cent of the respondents were having middle occupational stress as against 4 per cent only having high stress. It may be further seen that a maximum of (60 per cent) bank employees were having middle stress followed by IT employees (80 per cent) and university teachers (30 per cent).it is noticeable that Bank employees and IT employees were coming under high stress. Table 3 Role of respondents in Adolescents Physical health Statements Bank IT Teachers Total Employees Employees N=10 N=30 N=10 N=10 Know the height of the child 6(60) 3(30) 9(90) 18(60) Unsure Know the weight of the child

4(40) 6(60)

7(70) 3(30)

1(10) 9(90)

12(40) 18(60)

Unsure Describe the weight Over weight Under weight Normal Physical activity in school YES NO Watching T.V, Computer game, indoor games 1-3hrs 2-4hrs 4-6hrs Sleeping time 7-8hrs 9-10 10-11 Awareness to children on Need of exercise YES NO

4(40)

7(70)

1(10)

12(40)

3(30) 2(20) 5(50)

4(40) 2(20) 4(40)

1(10) 3(30) 6(60)

8(27) 7(23) 15(50)

7(70) 3(30)

6(60 4(40)

7(70) 3(30)

20(67) 10(13)

3(30) 7(70) 0

2(20) 5(50) 3(30)

5(50) 5(50) 0

10(33) 17(57) 3(10)

5(50) 5(50) 0

4(40) 6(60) 0

3(30) 7(70) 0

12(40) 18(60) 0

7(70) 3(30)

3(30) 7(70)

8(80) 2(20)

18(60) 12(40)

297


Table 3 Shows that 60 percent were having knowledge of their children height and weight and 40 percent unsure about the 90 percent teachers were aware about their children height and weight while 30 percent IT employees only know about their children height and weight. Regarding the description of their children weight 50 percent mothers were considering their children were normal weight while 27 per cent mothers described their children were in over weight and 23 percent were in underweight. In the case of physical activity in school 67 percent respondents reported that their children involving while 13 percent told no to this. Regarding sitting activity 57 per cent mothers told their children spending time 2-4 hours in front of the TV or playing computer games or indoor games. In that 33 per cent spending 1-3 hours and only 10 percent spending 4-6 hours in sitting activity.60 per cent respondents told that their adolescents were sleeping 9-10 hrs in a day while 40 percent reported 7-8 hrs in a day. Regarding awareness to their children on need of exercise, 60 per cent told that they are spending time for that and 40 percent told not spending time. From the table it is noticeable that the category showing high stress level(IT employees and Bank employees) showing high frequency level in the development of the physical health of their adolescent children such as knowing the height and weight and overweight, watching TV and need of exercise. Table 4 shows the respondents interest in food habits of their adolescents. In this 47 per cent were giving three times a week vegetables and fruits to their children.40 per cent every day and 13 per cent less than three times in a week .Regarding Jung foods it is noticeable that everyone giving Jung foods to their children and 47 per cent were giving twice in a month, following that 37 percent once in a month and 16 per cent more than that. From the table it’s evident that 67 per cent were not giving home-made snacks to their children. It is found that irrespective of stress level every one giving importance to the food habit of their children but at the same time all respondents were givingJung food to their adolescents. In that teachers (60) were giving less time i.e once in a month only while IT employees (50) were giving Jung foods more than twice in a month. Due to lack of time 90 percent IT employees and 80 per cent bank employees not giving homemade snacks to their children. 298


Table 4 Role of respondents in Adolescents food habits Statements

Bank

IT Employees

Teachers Total

Employees Duration for giving Veg &Fruits

Less than three times in a week

1(10)

3(30)

0

4(13)

Three times in a week

5(50)

4(40)

5(50)

14(47)

Every day

4(40)

3(30)

5(50)

12(40)

Not at all giving

0

0

0

00

Once in a Month

4(40)

1(10)

6(60)

11(37)

Twice in a Month

6(60)

4(40)

4(40)

14(47)

More than that

0

5(50)

0

5(16)

Not at all

0

0

0

0

YES

2(20)

1(10)

7(70)

10(33)

NO

8(80)

9(90)

3(30)

20(67)

Jung foods,(Taking to KFC, Noodles, chats etc)

Giving homemade snacks

Table 5 shows the result of respondents support in emotional development of adolescents.50 per cent spending some time only with children to share their emotional problems, following that 23 percent very often and 20 percent always spending in that 7percent not at all spending time with their children. In studies 47 per cent respondents were spending very often time with their children while 30 percent were spending sometime only.20 percent were spending always with their children, then 3 percent told they were not getting enough time so not at all spending time for studies with their children.57percent i.e. more than half of the respondents were spending time for giving awareness on physical and mental abuse of outside home.20 per cent not at all giving any awareness on this to their children.

299


Table-5 Role of Working Women in Adolescents Emotional Development Statements Spending time to listen their emotional problems Very often, Sometimes Always Not at all spending time in studying Very often, Sometimes Always Not at all giving awareness on physical and mental abuse of outside home Very often, Sometimes Always Not at all Taking your children for holiday trips for their mental relaxation. Very often, Sometimes Always Not at all I feel my work stress is affecting my child physical and emotional development Very much Sometimes, Not at all

Bank Employees

IT Employees

Teachers

Total

2(20) 6(60) 2(20) 0

1(10) 5(50) 2(20) 2(20)

4(40) 4(40) 2(40) 0

7(23) 15(50) 6(20) 2(7)

5(50) 2(20) 2(20) 1(10)

4(40) 5(50) 1(10) 0

5(50) 2(20) 3(30) 0

14(47) 9(30) 6(20) 1(3)

0 8(80) 0 2(20)

2(20) 4(40) 0 4(40)

4(40) 5(50) 1(10) 0

6(20) 17(57) 1(3) 6(20)

4(40) 5(50) 1(10) 0

5(50) 4(40) 1(10) 0

4(40) 3(30) 3(30) 0

13(43) 12(40) 5(17) 0

3(30) 4(40) 3(30)

4(40) 4(40) 2(20)

0 4(40) 6(60)

7(23) 12(40) 11(37)

Regarding holiday trips all were taking their children to holiday trips. In that 43 percent were taking very often and 40 percent were taking sometimes.17 percent taking always to their children for holiday trips. It’s very important to note that 40 percent were feeling sometime their work stress was affecting their children mental and physical development, while 23 percent were feeling very much it’s affecting and 37 percent were feeling it’s not at all affecting their work stress to their children development. The emotional development is very important in adolescents but it’s found that more respondents were giving sometime only with their children due to their work stress. 300


VI.

CONCLUSION

It can be thus concluded from the study that among working mothers 17% i.e half of the respondents from middle stress category and 4% from high stress. In these categories IT employees and Bank employees were coming. Teachers were coming in law stress and middle category. Even though the respondents were under work stress they were showing interest in children physical development, food habits, taking them to holiday trips and spending time for studying. In some areas like sharing emotional problems, giving awareness on need of exercise and physical and mental abuse of outside home showed less interest. These areas also working mothers should give importance and support to their adolescent children for their holistic development. REFERENCES Agarwal, R.: Stress in Life and at Work. Sage Publications, New Delhi, pp 11-13 (2001) Courter Ann.C, and Bumpus Matthew .F, Linking Parents’ Work Stress to Children’s and Adolescents’ Psychological Adjustment, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, VOLUME 10, NUMBER 5, OCTOBER 2001. Cyh.com,. (2014). Teen Health - Health Topics - Workplace safety. Retrieved December 2014,

from

http://www.cyh.com/

Health

Topics/

HealthTopic

Details.aspx?p

=243&np=295&id=2352 Emery, R. E. (1982). Inter-parental conflict and the children of discord and divorce. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 310–330. Gerard (2002). Marital Conflict, Ineffective parenting and children and adolescents maladjustment. Journal of Marriage and Family volume 64, issue 1 , 78-92. Gottman (1994). Why marriage succeeds or fails. Simon & Schuster, New York. Kerig, P. (1996). Assessing the links between inter-parental conflict and child adjustment: The conflicts and Problem-Solving Scales. Journal of Family Psychology, 10, 454-473. Kerig, P. K. (2001). Children’s coping with inter-parental conflict. In J. H. Grych & F. D. Fincham (Eds.), Inter-parental conflict and child development: Theory, research and application (pp. 213-248). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 301


Parron EM. Golden wedding couples: Lessons in marital longevity. Generations 1982;7:14-6. Blood RO, Wolfe DM. Husbands and Wives. New York. 1960. Gore S, Manigione TW. Social roles, sex roles, and psychological diAdjustmental isses: Additive and interactive models of sex differences. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1983;24:300-12. Campbell A, Converse PE, Rogers WL. The Quality of American Life. New York: Russel Sage Foundation. 1976. Mowrer, O.H. (1960). Learning Theory and Behaviour. New York : Wiley. Salovey, P., & Mayer, J.D. (1990).Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9, 185-211. Salovey, P., Woolery, A., & Mayer, J.D. (2001). Emotional intelligence : Conceptualization and measurement : I G. Fletcher and M.S. Clark (Eds.). The Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Interpersonal Processes, Oxford, England : Blackwell Publishes. Santrock, J. W. (2004). Life-span development (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Srivastav, A. K. and Singh, A. P.: Occupational Stress Index. Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (1981) Weiten W. Psychology applied to modern life. Adjustment in the 80’s (2nd edition). California: Words Worth. 1986.

302