Women, Stress and Balance

The Importance of Balance for Women

Stress at work, the stress of raising children, the stresses that come with aging parents -- any of these situations could provide a moderately high amount of stress. When women are faced with multiple roles, all of which carry heavy demands, they face levels of stress that are high enough to contribute to health problems, missed work, and a diminished capacity to take on more. Finding balance -- of the roles we play and an "inner balance" -- can be challenging, but is vital to women’s health and wellbeing. Consider the following:

One study from the University of Arizona followed 166 married couples for 42 days and found that women had more stressful days and fewer stress-free days. Looking deeper, researchers found that, rather than holding onto stress from one day to the next, women tended to face more episodes of stress in a day than did the men. This shows that it’s especially important for women to find balance to minimize their stressors, and find effective stress management techniques to combat the stress that they do experience.

Researchers from Louisiana State University asked mothers of grade school children to complete surveys measuring the daily hassles that they experienced, assessing their role balance, and examining their health status. Results found that daily hassles and role balance directly influenced the mothers’ health status. The researchers also found that role balance had a buffering effect on the relationship between health status and daily hassles, meaning that a more balanced lifestyle can lead to better health.

Another study from Arizona State University studied women in different age groups and examined how their "inner balance" (a combination of stressors and personality traits) affected their health. They found that, while women under 46 (and especially those under 30) tended to face the greatest number of stressors from the demands of spouses, children, aging parents and work, and women ages 18 to 66 faced significant stressors that could impact their physical and emotional health. Certain healthy personality traits, which became more common with age, offered a buffering effect.

So how can women cope with the stress that they’re experiencing, minimize the stress that they encounter, and find balance in their lives? Read on for tips on finding balance.

_Sources:

Almeida DM, Kessler RC. Everyday stressors and gender differences in daily distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. September, 1998.

Kenney JW, Bhattacharjee A. Interactive model of women's stressors, personality traits and health problems. Journal of Advanced Nursing. July, 2000.

Kenney JW. Women's 'inner-balance': a comparison of stressors, personality traits and health problems by age groups. Journal of Advanced Nursing. March, 2000.

Stuart TD, Garrison ME. The influence of daily hassles and role balance on health status: a study of mothers of grade school children. Women & Health. 2002.