The relationship of work stress and family stress to the self-rated health of women employed in the industrial sector in Korea

Objective: To identify the relationship of work stress and family stress to the health of women in Korea. Design: Cross-sectional study. Sample: Three hundred and thirty-one married women working in 14 manufacturing companies in Korea. Methods: Subjects responded to a questionnaire that included items on work stress, family stress, social support, and general characteristics. Perceived health status (PHS) was assessed with the Short Form-36. Results: There was a significant positive relationship between social support and PHS, but significant negative relationships were found between PHS and work stress as well as family stress. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis explained the health status of married working women by four categories: personal, work related, family related, and social support, and accounted for 45.4% of the variance. When family-related factors were added to the model, the power of explanation was increased by 17.9% compared with the explained variance. Family stress was a major variable not only for explaining the variance but also for correlating with health status. Conclusions: Both work stress and family stress should be considered together when addressing the health of working women in the industrial sector in Korea.