Bromberger J T, Matthews K A
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pa. 15213.
Am J Public Health. 1994 Feb;84(2):202-6. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.2.202.
This study investigated the psychological effects of paid employment and nonemployment, cross-sectionally and longitudinally, in 541 middle-aged women.
Women were seen for an extensive baseline evaluation and were reevaluated in an identical manner 3 years later. They were divided into four "synthetic" cohorts, based upon employment status at these two assessments.
At baseline, nonemployed women reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than employed women, with nonemployed women with less education, low support from family and friends, or low marital satisfaction the most symptomatic. Symptoms decreased in women who were nonemployed initially but employed at the later exam; in all other groups, symptoms increased. Unlike the cross-sectional findings, however, the longitudinal findings showed that women who were nonemployed at baseline and had low levels of education, social support, or marital satisfaction did not benefit more from subsequent employment than did their counterparts who had high levels of these factors.
New paid work may have a positive effect on mood for middle-aged women. However, given the contradictions between our cross-sectional and longitudinal results, caution should be exercised in drawing conclusions from cross-sectional studies that likely confound employment status, symptoms, and moderating variables.
本研究对541名中年女性进行了横断面和纵向研究，调查有偿工作和无工作状态对其心理的影响。
对这些女性进行了广泛的基线评估，并在3年后以相同方式进行重新评估。根据这两次评估时的就业状况，她们被分为四个“综合”队列。
在基线时，无工作的女性比有工作的女性报告的抑郁症状水平更高，其中受教育程度较低、家庭和朋友支持较少或婚姻满意度较低的无工作女性症状最为明显。最初无工作但在后期检查时有工作的女性症状有所减轻；在所有其他组中，症状都有所增加。然而，与横断面研究结果不同的是，纵向研究结果表明，基线时无工作且教育程度低、社会支持少或婚姻满意度低的女性，与具有较高这些因素水平的女性相比，后续就业并未使她们受益更多。
新的有偿工作可能对中年女性的情绪有积极影响。然而，鉴于我们横断面和纵向研究结果之间的矛盾，在从可能混淆就业状况、症状和调节变量的横断面研究中得出结论时应谨慎。
