Aging, Multiple Roles, Distress :

Life Stage as Social Context

Abstract

Most studies of the relationship between multiple roles and distress are centered on young and middle age adults. However, whether or not the findings of such studies also hold true for people who are in their late adulthood requires further examination. Using data from the 1998 Japanese National Family Research, this paper studies how the relation between multiple roles and distress varies between young or middle age adults and people in late adulthood.
According to results from regression analyses, compared to young adults and the middle-aged, the association between multiple roles and distress is much weaker for Japanese men who are in their late adulthood. In terms of individual roles, the significant effect of the wage-earner role observed in early to middle adulthood is reduced in late adulthood. Similarly, wage-earning, spousal and parental roles affect young or middle-aged men more significantly than other role combinations, but such disparities are hardly observed in late adulthood. On the other hand, for Japanese women, the association between multiple roles and distress is stronger in their late adulthood. In terms of individual roles, the effect of the spousal role varies according to a woman's life stage. In contrast to her younger counterparts, a Japanese woman in her late adulthood enjoys certain benefits by virtue of her role as a spouse. As a result, the sex difference in the effect of multiple roles and distress observed in early to middle adulthood diminishes in late adulthood.
Overall, the results show a strong impact of life stage on the association between multiple roles and distress.