The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

4257.0: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 - Board 10

Abstract #45905

Work-family conflict and participation in physical activity

Mary McElroy, PhD, Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University, 1A Natatorium, Manhattan, KS 66506, 785-532-0711, mmcelro@ksu.edu

The employment of women outside the home has changed dramatically as women continue to enter the workforce in record numbers. But while many epidemiological studies have included such variables as work and marital status, what has been absent is a thoretically guided focus on whether work and family responsibilities interact to impact health behaviors such as participation in physical activity. Data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States, a nationally representative population sample of noninstitutionalized persons aged 25-74, were used in this study. Four scales of family-work spillover, adapted from Grzywacz & Marks(2000), and three measures of physical activity (moderate-level physical activity, vigorous-level physical activity, functional physical activity) were constructed to test the hypotheses that higher rates of physical activity are related to lower negative work/family spillover and higher work/family positive spillover. Regression analyses of 676 females who worked full-time during the previous year resulted in partial support of the hypotheses. Negative work to family spillover was related to lower levels of functional physical activity but not moderate or vigorous physical activity. There were no significant relationships for family to job positive spillover or job to family negative spillover. These findings suggest a need to continue to consider the multiple roles women experience when trying to understand their low rates of participation in physical activity.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learning Objectives

    Keywords: Physical Activity,

    Presenting author's disclosure statement:
    I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

    Epidemiology Poster Session

    The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA