Doing it all: Effects of Family Responsibilities and Marital Relationship Quality on Mothers' Ambulatory Blood Pressure

Background The shared provider responsibility between married couples does not translate to equally shared division of childcare (CC) and household labor. While some marriages contain highly positive aspects, marriages may also simultaneously contain both positive and negative aspects. The negativity in these relationships can negate the positivity and could potentially lead to the detriment of mothers' health.Purpose We examined mothers' ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks.Methods We investigate these associations using a mixed multilevel model analysis on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages, all of whom had children under the age of 18 years currently living in the home.Results Mothers' perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships (low negativity and high positivity) had lower ABP than those in ambivalent relationships (both high negativity and positivity). There was a crossover interaction such that the effect of relationship quality on ABP was moderated by the perception of equity in the division of CC. For mothers who report doing all the CC, they had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships. Whereas mothers who report more equity in CC and have a supportive relationship have higher ABP compared with mothers in ambivalent relationships.Conclusions This study has implications related to dynamics within marital relationships. These results demonstrate important relational influences on mothers' ABP. Married mothers disproportionately shoulder the responsibilities of childcare (CC) and household labor. This inequity of the division of family responsibilities can negatively affect the relationship between husbands and wives with marital satisfaction being higher when the load is more equally shared between partners. Additionally, marital satisfaction is associated with numerous health benefits including lower blood pressure. We examined mothers' ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) associated with their marital relationship quality and perceived equity with her spouse on CC and household tasks on a sample of 224 mothers in heterosexual marriages. Mothers' perception of equity in the division of CC responsibilities contributed to lower ABP. Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships had lower ABP than those reporting less supportive relationships. There was an interaction between the perception of equity in the division of CC and the effect that relationship quality had on mothers' ABP. Mothers who reported doing all the CC had lower ABP if they had a supportive marital relationship compared with mothers in less supportive relationships. Whereas mothers who reported more equity in CC and had a supportive relationship had higher ABP compared with mothers in less supportive relationships.

Automated summary

Mothers' perception of equity in the division of childcare responsibilities contributes to lower ambulatory blood pressure (ABP). Additionally, mothers in supportive marital relationships have lower ABP compared to those in ambivalent relationships. The effect of relationship quality on ABP is moderated by the perception of equity in childcare division.