Work and Leisure

Stress and working parents 159Figure 8.5 Increases and decreases in stress(Table 8.4) categorising couples into those that were both highly stressed,those who were low stressed and those couples where one spouse was highlystressed. 7 We then examined these couples when they were with their spouse,their children, their children and their spouse, and when they were alone.Overall there is little variation in stress by social relationships. The onlysignificant difference among and between these groups occurs when highstress couples are with their spouse and their children. We find that stresssignificantly decreases for these couples in these situations. In contrast, on theindividual level in other analyses, we found that stress increases for high stressmothers when they are with their children (high stress mothers: with children0.94, with spouse 0.72, alone 0.83). Here we find that the presence of aspouse, at least in a couple situation, seems to moderate stress levels.Our earlier analyses show that high stress mothers and fathers in comparisonto low stress mothers and fathers are more likely to work longerhours on weekends and at home, and to think about work at home. It couldbe that when they spend time together with their children, this family timebecomes more precious and enjoyable. When high stress mothers are with