ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses use longitudinal data, gathered through two surveys administered 1 year apart, and examines the shifts in objective and subjective role characteristics that occur over the course of a year among working couples caring for children and aging parents. It also analyzes the effects of those shifts on changes in work-family fit, well-being, and work outcomes over the 1-year time period. Because data from two time points are required in order to assess change, the chapter utilizes only the data from the 234 couples who returned both the first and second surveys. The chapter addresses two key questions. First, what changes in role demands and role quality occurred in the year between the two surveys? Second, how did those changes affect the outcomes of interest in this study, including work-family fit, well-being, and work-related outcomes?
