Couple Type, Parental Status, and the Mediating Impact of Social Support

Abstract

Current western society is fast-paced and achievement oriented for the individual. In order for individuals to function fully within such society, they must succumb to fulfilling multiple roles, from parent to lover to worker. While occupying multiple roles can be beneficial, multiple roles also can lead to health problems. Therefore, examining the factors that contribute to added or decreased role strain is important. While prior research has demonstrated that spousal support can influence the amount of experienced strain and improve a host of other life domains, the role of couple-type and parental status have largely been ignored. Ninety-eight dual-income and 40 single-income couples completed questionnaires assessing how spousal support differentially influences dual and single-income couples' marital satisfaction and well-being. In addition, the influence of parental status also was examined. Significant effects of spousal support on marital satisfaction and parental status on well-being were found. In the current individualistic, achievement-oriented society, pressure abounds to pursue perfection in countless areas, of which past generations cared little about. Today, in order to be deemed successful, one must obtain and maintain an excellent job, partner, child, and body, without exhibiting any negative consequences. Still, varying roles may add richness and value unfelt by previous generations (Schieman & Taylor, 2001). In addition, role satisfaction has been found to be linked to women's well-being (Greenberger & O'Neil, 1993). However, role-strain also can lead to a variety of health problems such as depression, poor general health, and increased alcohol consumption (Frone, Russell, & Barnes, 1996). The amount of stress imbued in the western lifestyle is unlikely to be reduced in the near future; therefore it is important to examine factors associated with successful balancing of varying roles. Spousal support has been found to reduce role-strain through its impact on perceived stressors (Carlson & Perrewe, 1999) and to increase marital quality (Dehle, Larsen, & Landers, 2001; Julien, Chartrand, Simard, Bouthiller, & Begin, 2003) and general well-being (Dehle et al.). The role of spousal support on marital satisfaction and well-being has been documented in marriages either with young children (Deater-Deckard & Scarr, 1996; Greenberger & O'Neil, 1993; Robertson, Elder, Skinner, 1991) or in marriages in general, not distinguishing parental status (Dehle et al.; Julien et al.; Pasch & Bradbury, 1998); however, there appears to be a lack of comparison of spousal support in the literature between marriages with and without young children. In addition, there has been research focusing on spousal support in dual-career marriages (Perrone & Worthington, 2001); however, single-income couples appear to have been neglected in the research as well as a comparison of spousal support between marital-types. The current study investigated the mediating effect of spousal support on marital satisfaction and general well-being in differing marriage types as well as differing parental status. Because of the added stress of raising a child, working parents experience a greater degree of role strain than non-parent couples (Scharlach, 2001). Because of a greater role strain, it is likely that parents need greater amounts of spousal support than non-parents to maintain the same level of functioning and satisfaction. Likewise, dual-income couples face added stressors and increased role-strain; therefore, they also are more likely to require additional spousal support to maintain the same level of satisfaction as single-income couples. Benefits of Spousal Support Spousal support plays a variety of roles for individuals in marital relationships. Dehle et al. (2001) found that spousal support is important for both marital satisfaction and individual functioning. …