Wives' Shift Work Schedules and Husbands' and Wives' Well-Being in Dual-Earner Couples With Children: A Within-Couple Analysis

In a sample of 55 dual-earner families with children aged 8 to 14 in which the mothers are registered nurses regularly working either day shifts (typically 7: 00 a. m. to 3: 00 p. m.) or evening shifts (typically 3: 00 p. m. to 11: 00 p. m.), we estimated the within-couple relationship between the wife's work variables (i.e., work shift, work hours, and the interaction between work shift and work hours) and each spouse's work-family conflict, psychological distress, and marital-role quality. Wives' work variables predicted their own work-family conflict and psychological distress and showed a trend to predict their husbands' work-family conflict.