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Marital Adjustment, Stress and Depression among Working and Nonworking

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 Indian Journal of Human Relations ISSN-0974-1089
2022, Vol. 56 (1-2), pp. 26-34
Peer Reviewed
International Journal

Marital Adjustment, Stress and Depression

among Working and Nonworking Women
Maneesha K. P* & Sannet Thomas**
*
II MSc psychology student, Yuvakshetra Institute of Management Studies, Palakkad, Kerala-678631
Email: manishamanishaa135@gmail.com
**
Former Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Yuvakshetra Institute of Management Studies,
Palakkad, Kerala-678631 Email: thomassannet@gmail.com
*Corresponding Author Contact Numbers – 9544419771, 7259926220

Abstract
This study was conducted to ascertain the marital adjustment, stress and depression
among working and nonworking women and also to examine the relationship between these
variables. These psychological states are assumed to be associated with mental health and
happiness among people. The study was conducted on 120 women aged 20 to 60 years, out of
which 60 were working and 60 were nonworking, through purposive sampling techniques.
Marital adjustment scale (Locke-Wallace, 1959), Perceived stress scale (Cohen et al., 1983) and
Beck depression inventory (1988) were used to collect data. One-way ANOVA and Pearson
Product Moment correlation were applied to analyze the data. Results show that working women
have relatively poor marital adjustment and high depression and stress as compared to non-
working women. There is a significant difference in marital adjustment, stress and depression
between working and nonworking women. It was also found that there is a significant
relationship between marital adjustment, stress and depression among working and nonworking
women.
Keywords: Marital Adjustment, Stress, Depression, Working Women, Non-Working Women

Introduction

One of the most important relationships between a man and women is marriage. It
involves emotional and legal commitment that is quite important in any adult’s life. Moreover,
the act of choosing a partner and entering into a marriage contract is regarded as a personal
achievement as well as a maturational milestone. Without a doubt, choosing a spouse is one of
the most important decisions a person will make in his or her lifetime. People marry for a variety
of reasons, including love, happiness, companionship, and the desire to have children, as well as
physical attractiveness and the desire to leave a painful situation. Now days women’s are said to
have low level of marital adjustment and high-level of stress and depression. This research is

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Maneesha K. P & Sannet Thomas
expected to contribute to a better understanding of the stress and depression as it may be
associated with marital adjustment among working and nonworking women.

Marital Adjustment
Marital adjustment is defined as "a state in which a husband and wife have a broad
sense of happiness and satisfaction with their marriage and with each other. Marital adjustment is
defined as the condition in which there is usually a feeling of pleasure and contentment in
husband and wife and with each other. It requires maturity in accepting and understanding the
spouse's growth and development. If this progress is not actualized and experienced, death in a
marital connection is inevitable (Hashmi et al., 2007).

Stress
Stress is defined as the physiological or psychological response to internal or external
stressors. Stress causes changes in most of the body's systems, influencing how people feel and
behave (Hans Selye, 1936). Stress can be defined as the degree to which one feels overwhelmed
or unable to cope as a result of pressures that are unmanageable. Stress is a part of modern life,
with the increasing complexity of life, stress is likely to increase. Stress is built in the concept of
role, which is conceived as the position a woman occupies in a system. Women are not restricted
to become homemaker only, she is now playing role of working woman, giving her participation
in both home and work place. Indian society is not ready to accept change in few things, still
have traditional thinking like woman is only homemaker. These kinds of thinking make more
challenging for woman in daily life when she starts her career the thing she loves to do. Being a
woman, she has to face so many obstacles in her personal and professional life. She has to
balance between her work and her home, which is not an easy task to do. These kinds of things
make her unrest, tired, frustrated and forget to her exactly what she is? She was stressed out by
the scenario of balancing job, home, and multiple duties in a single day (Hashmi et al., 2007).

Depression
Depression is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how one
feels, the way one thinks and acts (APA, 2013). Depression is a mood disorder that causes a
persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. A case is reported in which women changed the
arena of activity. She stepped out of the threshold of house and joined service like man. Now she
got admiration, equality and opportunity. The euphoria, however, was fleeting, as she was
expected to take up this work as well. She had not expected a reduction in household
responsibilities. Stress and depression resulted as a result of this (Pillai & Sen, 1998).

Rationale
The problems of working and nonworking women with regards to their marital
adjustment, stress and depression seem to be less explored in our context. This study would be
helpful in knowing the difficulties faced by working and non-working women. Because our
society is male-dominated society, women have to face all problems. If they are working they are
supposed to perform all duties at office as well as at home (Dandona, 2013).

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Marital Adjustment, Stress and Depression.......................

Psychologists and mental health professionals can help married women find strategies
to increase and improve their wellbeing. Common people will be better enabled to understand
the perception of married women. The findings can help women to understand themselves better
and seek help before their mental health issues affect their day to day activities (MK & Kaur,
2020).

Review
Hashmi, Khurshid, and Hassan (2007) conducted a study on marital adjustment, stress
and depression. The study covered 150 married women, who were both working and non-
working. Urdu Translation of Dyadic Adjustment Scale (2000), Beck Depression Inventory
(1996) and Stress Scale (1991) were used. Results indicated highly significant relationship
between marital adjustment, depression and stress. In comparison to educated working and non-
working married women, the findings demonstrate that highly educated working and non-
working married women can do well in their married lives and are free from depression
(Dandona, 2013).
Vyas (2019). Investigated the Level of Anxiety, Depression and Stress among Working
and Non-Working Women. It was expected that there would be a considerable difference in
anxiety, depression, and stress levels between working and non-working women. Using random
sampling techniques, the researcher selected 60 working and 60 non-working women in the age
range of 30 to 40 years for the current study. Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale was used; it
was developed by Bhatnagar et al. (2011). It was discovered that working women in lower
socioeconomic status had more anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms than nonworking
women; however there was no significant difference between working and nonworking
conditions among women in higher socioeconomic status.
Gupta and Damodar (2020) investigated the Levels of psychological distress among
working and non-working women. This study tried to identify the level of psychological distress
and the vulnerability of women towards mental disorder, according to their work status (working
and non-working). The purpose of this study is to determine the difference in the Levels of
Psychological Distress among unmarried working and nonworking women. 144 unmarried
women with age range of 23-30 years from Kolkata and Bangalore participated in the study. The
data was collected by administering Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10, 2002).
Independent sample t-test is used to determine the difference in psychological distress between
the two groups. According to the findings, there is no statistical significant difference in the level
of psychological distress experienced by working and non-working women.
In view of the above, the present study attempted to know whether there is significant
difference in the marital adjustment, stress and depression among working and nonworking
women and also to examine whether there is any relationship between these variables.

Objectives
1. To study the marital adjustment, stress, depression among working and nonworking women.

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Maneesha K. P & Sannet Thomas
2. To study the relationship between marital adjustment and stress among working and
nonworking women.
3. To study the relationship between marital adjustment and depression among working and
nonworking women.
4. To understand the difference between marital adjustment, stress and depression among
working and nonworking women.

Hypotheses
1. There would be no significant difference in the marital adjustment among working and
nonworking women.
2. There would be no significant difference in the stress among working and nonworking
women.
3. There would be no significant difference in the depression among working and nonworking
women.
4. There would be no significant relationship between marital adjustment and stress among
working and nonworking women.
5. There would be no significant relationship between marital adjustment and depression among
working and nonworking women.

Method
Design: The category of women, i.e., working and nonworking were taken as the independent
variable and group of dependent variables covered marital adjustment, stress, depression among
them. A correlational research design to see whether there was a relationship between marital
adjustment stress and depression among working and nonworking women was used. Besides it, a
between-group research design to assess the difference in marital adjustment, stress and
depression among working and nonworking women was also applied.
Sample: Purposive sampling method was used in this study. The sample comprised of 120
women with age range of 20 to 60 years from Palakkad (DIST,) Kerala, out of which 60 were
working and 60 were nonworking. The sample belonged to different religious family type, area
of residence.

Inclusion/ Exclusion criteria

1. Willingness of participants to participate through online, otherwise excluded
2. Age limit 20 to 60 years, otherwise excluded
3. Those who have given consent for the participation, otherwise excluded

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Marital Adjustment, Stress and Depression.......................

Tools
Socio-demographic data: Social - demographic data which included name, age, gender, socio-
economic status, place of residence, family type and religion were gathered.
The following psychological tools were also used to measure the variables covered in the
present study. All the scales are psychometrically satisfactory.

Marital Adjustment Scale (Locke-Wallace, 1959): It is a 15- item scale to measure marital
satisfaction. It was used to differentiate well adjusted couples from distressed couples. The 15
items are answered on a variety of response scales.
Perceived stress scale (Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein, 1983): Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
is a 14-item measure of the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful.
Beck Depression Inventory (Beck, 1988): The BDI is a widely used 21-item self-report
inventory measuring the severity of depression in adolescents and adults.
Procedure
Purpose of the study was explained to the participants through online and their
willingness to participate in the study was ascertained. The socio- demographic data, Marital
Adjustment (Locke-Wallace, 1959 ), Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen etal.,1983) , Beck
Depression Inventory ( Aaron T .Beck (revised version), 1988) were given to the participants
through online with proper instruction one after the other. Responses were collected from the
participants. The scoring for the three assessments was done and interpreted according to the
manual.

Ethical issues

 Data collected has been used only for the research purpose.
 Informed consent of each and every participant was acquired.
 Confidentiality and of the obtained information have maintained throughout the study.

Analysis of data
The mean, standard deviation, one way ANOVA and Pearson product moment
correlation methods were used to analyze the data. The statistical analysis was carried out using
Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.

Results
Table 1 shows the mean and standard deviation of the marital adjustment, stress,
Depression among working and nonworking women. The mean of nonworking women is 20.18
on marital adjustment scale, whereas mean of working women is 15.08. So, nonworking women
have high marital adjustment than working women. The mean of nonworking women is 15.93 on
stress scale, whereas mean of working women is 20.70. Thus, working women have high level of
stress. The mean of nonworking women is 12.81 on depression while working women have a
mean score of 31.40. So, working women showed higher level of depression.

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Maneesha K. P & Sannet Thomas
Table 1, Mean and SD on marital adjustment, stress and depression scales among working and
nonworking women.

Category N M SD

Non-Working 60 20.1833 3.65686

Working 60 15.0833 4.79156
Marital Adjustment
Total 120 17.6333 4.95684

Non-Working 60 15.9333 5.31983

Stress Working 60 20.7000 4.62235

Total 120 18.3167 5.50932

Non-Working 60 12.8167 12.75385

Depression Working 60 31.4000 10.78323

Total 120 22.1083 15.01193

The significant value on marital adjustment is .000 and correspond F value is 42.954
which is significant at 0.05 level of significance. Thus, the null hypothesis 1is rejected. Thus
there is a significant difference in the marital adjustment among working and nonworking
women. The significant value on stress is .000 and correspond F value is 27.448 which is
significant at 0.05 level of significance. Thus, the null hypothesis 2 is rejected, so, there is a
significant difference in the stress among working and nonworking women. The significant value
on depression is .000 and correspond F value is 74.283 which is significant at 0.05 level of
significance. Thus, the null hypothesis 3 is rejected. There is a significant difference in
depression among working and nonworking women.

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Marital Adjustment, Stress and Depression.......................

Table 2 shows the one-way ANOVA on marital adjustment stress and depression among
working and nonworking women

Category SS df MS F Sig

Marital Between group 780.300 1 780.300 42.954 .000

adjustment
Within group 2143.567 118 18.166

Total 2923.867 119

Stress Between group 681.633 1 681.633 27.448 .000

Within group 2930.333 118 24.833

Total 3611.967 119

Depression Between group 10360.208 1 10360.208 74.283 .000

Within group 16457.383 118 139.469

Total 26817.592 119

Table 3: Correlation co-efficient value on marital adjustment stress and depression

Stress Marital Adjustment Depression

Pearson
1 -.200* .554**
Correlation
Stress .000
Sig. (2-tailed) .028
N 120 120 120
Pearson -.464**
-.200* 1
Marital Correlation
Adjustment Sig. (2-tailed) .028 .000
N 120 120 120
Pearson 1
.554** -.464**
Correlation
Depression
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 120 120 120

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Maneesha K. P & Sannet Thomas
Table 3 shows the correlation between variables such as marital adjustment, stress and
depression. The correlation co-efficient between marital adjustment and stress among working
and nonworking women is -0.200 which is significant at 0.05. The hypothesis 4 is rejected.
There is a negative correlation between marital adjustment and stress. The correlation co-
efficient between marital adjustment and depression among working and nonworking women is -
0.464, being significant at 0.05. The hypothesis 5 is rejected, as there is a negative correlation
between marital adjustment and depression.

Discussion
This study was conducted to ascertain marital adjustment, stress and depression among
working and nonworking women and also to examine the relationship between marital
adjustment and stress and depression. The two groups differed significantly on all the three
scales, which suggests that working and nonworking women face different psychological states
which affect the life of the two groups differentially. This needs to be addressed by themselves
and also by the concerned parties of their life. Such facilitating efforts for them are expected to
enhance their well-being and quality of life. The findings of this study contradict Gupta and
Damodar’s (2020) results who found no significant difference between such groups on distress
scale. But, the findings of this study extend empirical support to some other related studies (e.g.
Vyas, 2019; Hashmi, Khurshid & Hassan, 2007). Thus the problems of women with regards to
their working status needs to be paid due attention.

Conclusion
The results obtained in the present study revealed significant differences in marital
adjustment, stress and depression between working and nonworking women. There is significant
correlation between marital adjustment and stress, and also between marital adjustment and
depression among as regards the two groups of women. Nonworking women have a high level of
marital adjustment as compared to working women. Working women experiences a high level of
stress and depression than nonworking women. There is a negative correlation between marital
adjustment and stress among working and nonworking women. There is a negative correlation
between marital adjustment and depression among working and nonworking women.

Implications
The study provides awareness to the couples for their happy marital life. This study also
highlights the knowledge about stress and depression and its role in marital issues.

Limitations and Suggestions

The limitations of the study include sample size, samples of women were only taken
from Palakkad (DIST), Kerala, i.e., a very limited area was covered. Thus, a larger sample,
covering wider range of geographic area and tapping other variables of interest are expected to
produce more fruitful results in this area of research.

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Marital Adjustment, Stress and Depression.......................

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