The Moderating Effect of Health on the Relationship between Involvement in Housework of Parents’ and Parents-in-Law’s Families and Happiness of Middle-Aged Women in Taiwan

摘要

Background: This study aims to investigate the moderating effect of family health status on the relationship between involvement in housework of two-side parents’ families and happiness of middle-aged women in Taiwan. Methods: The data used in this study were gathered from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s program—“Intergenerational expectation and collaboration: an inquiry on a new mechanism of continued tradition across generations”. The subjects (n = 512) were restricted to aged 45 - 64 years old who live with spouses and have children, and one of whose parent or parent-in-law is still alive. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate how family health status moderates the relationship between involvement in housework of parents’ families and parents-in-law’s families and the happiness of middle-aged women. Results: 1) Family health status is positively correlated with their happiness. 2) The parents’ health status can moderate the relationship between involvement in housework of parents’ families and happiness of the middle-aged women. 3) The middle-aged women’s health status can moderate the relationship between involvement in housework of parents-in-law’s families and those women’s happiness, and fathers-in-law’s health status can moderate the relationship between husbands’ involvement in housework of the women’s parents-in-law’s families and women’s happiness. Conclusions: In future, when policies and programs related to the well-being of middle-aged women are being planned, the effect of women’s health and family health status shall be considered as a key to improve those women’s quality of life.