Global integrative meaning as a mediating factor in the relationship between social roles and psychological distress.

Previous scholars' attempts to account for the salutary effects of social roles (i.e., employment, marriage, and parenting) on distress have considered the mediating effects of role-specific identity meaning. These attempts, however, have had limited success. I argue that social roles affect distress because they provide a global integrative meaning and that this integrative concept of meaning is theoretically different from role-specific identity meaning. My data were drawn from a national probability sample of 2,248 respondents age 18 years and over. My results provide substantial evidence that social roles have a salutary relationship on distress and that integrative meaning mediates these effects. The effects of the marriage and parenting roles on distress are the most affected by the mediating effects of integrative meaning. My discussion addresses these findings in light of recent research which considers other theoretically important and potentially related constructs such as role-specific identity meaning, global self-esteem and role-specific self-esteem.

The effects of role socialization on the initiation of cocaine use: an event history analysis from adolescence into middle adulthood.

This research examines three relatively unexplored questions about the effects of role socialization on the initiation of cocaine use: (1) What are the effects of adult social roles on the initiation of cocaine use? (2) What are the effects of the life-course timing of entry into adult social roles on the initiation of cocaine use? and (3) What are the effects of life-course timing of the initiation of other drugs -- on the initiation of cocaine use? The data used in these analyses are from a national probability sample of men born between 1944 and 1954, inclusive (N = 1,933). Results indicate that the marital role was the only role which demonstrated a significant effect on the initiation of cocaine use. We find that either early or late entry into the marital role reduces its effect to nonsignificance. The timing of entry in the drug use roles indicates that the later the initiation of drug use the greater the odds of cocaine initiation. Results are discussed in light of the role socialization and developmental perspectives.

Race differences in the effects of multiple roles on health: longitudinal evidence from a national sample of older men.

This paper examines race differences in the effects of social roles on physical health. Using data from the older men cohort of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience, we examine the impact of employment, marriage, and being a supporter on health limitations and mortality. Employment has the most consistent health-protective effect, and the benefits of employment are more pronounced for Blacks than for Whites. Marriage affects health in conjunction with employment. These findings lend further support to the growing literature on the effects of roles on health. The results further illustrate the importance of ascribed statuses as structural determinants of the relationship between roles and health, highlighting the very real differences in the meanings and expectations of social roles for Blacks and Whites.