WORK-FAMILY STRESS AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG FEMALE BANK EMPLOYEES AT DIFFERENT LIFE STAGES AND THE MODERATING ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT

Employed women who are not only shouldering the household responsibilities but are also dealing with demands of their work role have to deal with duel responsibilities, each significant for them in its own right and thereby, they suffer from stresses from both sources – the workplace and the household. This double load of stress can compromise their physical as well as mental health which needs to be addressed before damages become irreparable. Studies suggest that availability of Social Support may moderate the relationship between stress and mental health and thus reduce the deleterious consequences of stress. Literature also suggests that women balance their work and family/home life in different ways at the various stages of their lives. The present investigation, hence, aims at exploring the stresses emanating from workplace as well as household and mental health along with the moderator effect of social support on the relationship between them among bank employed women at different W-F life stages. Occupational Stress Index, Life Demand Schedule, Mental Health Inventory and Social Support Scale were administered individually to 250 clerical level female bank employees, belonging to three life stages, viz., Stage-I(Below 30yrs), Stage-II (30-40yrs) & Stage-III (Above 40yrs).