The major aim of this dissertation was to investigate how negative spillover shapes mental health status. Following the stress process model, this study also explored whether and how sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., race, gender, and age), family characteristics (i.e., length of marriage/cohabitation, spousal/partner support, and presence of children), socioeconomic resources (i.e., education, income, mortgage-payer status, renter status), and work characteristics (i.e., total work hours, job tenure, skill discretion, decision authority, coworker support, and supervisor support) moderate the relationship between negative spillover and mental health. Data were analyzed from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States 2004-06 (N=1,430) and the key outcome measures were depressive symptoms and anxious mood.
With respect to depressive symptoms, the major findings indicated that negative work-to-family spillover increased symptoms. Other findings indicated that the deleterious effects of negative work-to-family spillover were moderated by gender and spousal/partner support, wherein men and individuals with higher levels of spousal/partner support experiences lower levels of depressed mood. While negative family-to-work spillover did not have main effects on depressive symptoms, this type of spillover was moderated by spousal/partner support, which acted as a protectant against spillover even in the case of high levels of negative family-to-work spillover.
Similar to depressive symptoms, negative work-to-family spillover increased anxious mood. Moreover, the effect of negative work-to-family spillover on symptoms of anxiety was moderated by length of marriage/cohabitation. Lengthy married or cohabitating relationships reduced the impact of negative work-to-family spillover on anxious mood. Negative family-to-work spillover was not related to anxious symptoms; however, despite the lack of main effects, age did moderate the relationship between this type of spillover and symptoms of anxiety. Age did not diminish respondents’ anxiety levels at high levels of negative family-to-work spillover, but younger respondents experienced more anxiety at low levels of negative family-to-work spillover.