Number of roles and well-being among older adults in the Czech Republic

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Barbora Hubatková

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the relationship between number of roles, stress, and overall well-being among 50- to 70-year-olds in the Czech Republic and to assess whether this link can be at least partially attributed to other role-related factors, namely individual role types, role overload, and role strain. Using OLS regression, the number of roles was found to be positively related to both stress and overall well-being. The link between multiple roles and well-being among elderly Czechs was mostly irreducible to other role-related factors. However, some of the positive association between number of roles and stress was likely due to occupying a worker role, experiencing role overload and experiencing one role as particularly concerning or difficult, while some of the positive association between multiple roles and overall well-being was partially attributable to occupying grandparental and “active ager” roles.

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