IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i6p4948-d1094338.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Association between Time Spent in Domestic Work and Mental Health among Women and Men

Author

Listed:
  • Anu Molarius

    (Centre for Clinical Research, Region Värmland, 651 85 Karlstad, Sweden
    Department of Public Health Sciences, Karlstad University, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden)

  • Alexandra Metsini

    (Department of Knowledge Management and Patient Safety, Region Värmland, 651 82 Karlstad, Sweden
    Institute of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, 701 82 Örebro, Sweden)

Abstract

Background: Unpaid domestic work has been found to be negatively associated with mental health, especially among women, in previous studies but the measures of domestic work vary. The aim of this study was to elucidate the association between time spent in domestic work and mental health in the general population. Method: The study is based on 14,184 women and men aged 30–69 years who responded to a survey questionnaire in Central Sweden in 2017 (overall response rate: 43%). Multivariate logistic regression models, adjusting for age group, educational level, family status, employment status, economic difficulties, and social support, were used to study the association between hours spent in domestic work and depressive symptoms and self-reported diagnosed depression, respectively. Results: In total, 26.7% of the respondents reported depressive symptoms and 8.8% reported diagnosed depression. No independent associations between hours spent in domestic work and depressive symptoms were found. Among women, the lowest prevalence of depression was found among those who spend 11–30 h per week in domestic work. Among men, the prevalence of self-reported diagnosed depression was highest among those who spend 0–2 h per week in domestic work, but no other statistically significant associations between time spent in domestic work and depression were found. In addition, a strong dose–response relationship was found between experiencing domestic work as burdensome and both depressive symptoms and self-reported diagnosed depression among women and men. Conclusion: Investigating time spent in unpaid domestic work may not be sufficient to assess the association between exposure to domestic work and mental health. Conversely, strain in domestic work may be a more important factor contributing to the prevalence of poor mental health in the general population.

Suggested Citation

  • Anu Molarius & Alexandra Metsini, 2023. "The Association between Time Spent in Domestic Work and Mental Health among Women and Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-9, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4948-:d:1094338
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4948/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4948/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bonnie Janzen & Laurie-Ann Hellsten, 2021. "Household Income and Psychological Distress: Exploring Women’s Paid and Unpaid Work as Mediators," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Ching-Fen Lee & Shain-May Tang, 2022. "What Type of Housework Happiness Do You Prefer? Does Gender and Health Matter? A Taiwanese Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-12, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4948-:d:1094338. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.