Coping With Overload and Stress: Men and Women in Dual-Earner Families

This study tested gender differences in a model positing relationships between work and family demands, overload, 4 coping mechanisms, and stress. The coping mechanisms were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between overload and stress. The sample consisted of 1,404 men and 1,623 women in dual-earner families. Respondents relied on 2 coping strategies: scaling back and restructuring family roles. Men were more likely than women to respond to overload by scaling back and less likely to respond by work-role restructuring. Coping by familyrole restructuring moderated the relationship between role overload and stress for both groups; however, the gender difference was not significant. Coping by work-role restructuring moderated the relationship between overload and stress only for men.