Specific measures and procedures for reducing stress in women from dual-earner families were developed and evaluated. Preliminary research indicated that time management instruction and social support were two promising approaches for impacting upon stress levels in working wives. Fifty-six married women working in classified employee positions at a local university were assigned to one of four conditions in which they received either extensive time management instruction with a large degree of group support (Combination condition), extensive instruction with minimal group support (High Instruction condition), minimal instruction with a large degree of support (High Support condition), or neither intervention (a waiting-list control). Major variables of interest included amount of time reported in two targeted priority activities, changes in self-efficacy for specified time management-related tasks, amount of support received both within and outside of the group setting, and changes in global stress measures. Reliability on time spent in targeted activities was assessed via phone interviews with participants' spouses and participants themselves. Women in both conditions receiving extensive instruction reported significantly greater increases in such activities in comparison with High Support participants. Changes in time spent in targeted activities were maintained 3 months after the program ended. Both conditions receiving extensive instruction also reported a greater amount of self-efficacy at posttest than the two conditions receiving minimal or no instruction. In contrast, no significant differences among conditions were found on either of the two global stress measures. While there was evidence for the integrity of the group support manipulation, actual changes in group contacts were small for all conditions. Possible reasons for this were explored. In light of the strong inverse correlation found between outside support and stress, in-depth investigation of methods for helping individuals create functional supports as well as better utilize supports already available to them was suggested. The utility of emphasizing specificity of both interventions and measures in developing stress management programs for targeted populations was discussed. / Ph. D.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/87351 |
Date | January 1982 |
Creators | King, Abby C. |
Contributors | Psychology, Psychology, Winett, Richard A., Eisler, Richard M., Frederiksen, Lee W., Brehony, K.A., Burge, Penny |
Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |
Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
Language | en_US |
Detected Language | English |
Type | Dissertation, Text |
Format | vi, 198, [2] leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
Relation | OCLC# 9022111 |
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