Numerous investigations have confirmed that employment

Numerous investigations have confirmed that employment is a major determinant of health and life expectancy (Floderus, Hagman, Aronsson, Marklund, & Wikman, 2009; Popham, Gray, & Bambra, 2012; Roos, Burström, Saastamoinen, Lahelma, 2005; Roos, Lahelma, Saastamoinen, & Elstad, 2005). A high risk for poor health is associated, not only with unemployment, but also with inactivity in the labor market (e.g., homemakers) (Floderus et al., 2009; Roos, Lahelma et al., 2005). In men, employment is associated with good health particularly for those employed full time; in women, however, this histamine-2 receptor antagonist association is less pronounced (Elstad, 1996;Floderus et al., 2009; Fokkema, 2002; Roos, Lahelma et al., 2005; Schoon, Hansson, & Salmela-Aro, 2005). With regard to the association between parenthood and health, some studies have reported positive associations (Fokkema, 2002; Helmert & Shea, 1998; Martikainen, 1995; Sachs-Ericsson & Ciarlo, 2000) or negative associations (Evenson & Simon, 2005; Floderus et al., 2009; Waldron, Weiss, & Hughes, 1998), and other studies have found no associations at all (David & Kaplan, 1995; Hibbard & Pope, 1993; Ross et al., 1990). Substantial gender-related differences have also been reported (Muhammad & Gagnon, 2010). Most analyses of the effects of partner, parental, and employment statuses on health have shown complex interactions among the three roles. However, the results vary strongly according to the studied outcomes or measures used for partnership (marital status or whether living with a partner), parenthood (e.g., living together with children in one household, biological parents, number of children, and age of the children), and employment (whether employed, number of paid working hours, and activity in labor market). Furthermore, to explore the associations among these multiple roles, some studies have analyzed the effects of their interactions (Fokkema, 2002; Hewitt et al., 2006; Martikainen, 1995; Muhammad & Gagnon, 2010; Roos, Lahelma et al., 2005; Sachs-Ericsson & Ciarlo, 2000; Waldron et al., 1998), whereas other studies have analyzed the effects of the number of roles (Ahrens & Ryff, 2006; Janzen & Muhajarine, 2003; Lee & Powers, 2002). Most research on multiple roles has focused on women. Women engaged in all three roles (partner, mother, and employee) reportedly have the lowest mortality rates (Martikainen, 1995) and are more likely to report good SRH (Janzen & Muhajarine, 2003) than women engaged in one or two of these roles. Multiple roles are also reportedly associated with a lower rate of psychiatric disorders, whereas single motherhood is associated with a higher rate of psychiatric disorders (Sachs-Ericsson & Ciarlo, 2000). According to Fokkema (2002), the positive association of the three roles with health is especially pronounced in part-time working mothers and mothers with older children. By contrast, Floderus et al. (2009) reported a higher risk of poor SRH among employed mothers than among employed women without children. The risk of poor SRH increased among employed mothers as the number of children increased, and the risk was higher among women working 40 or more hours per week. Hewitt et al. (2006) also found evidence for the multiple role burden hypothesis: the combination of full-time employment and parenthood had a negative impact on women\'s health, but the combination of part-time employment or non-employment with parenthood was beneficial for health. Khlat, Sermet, & Le Pape (2000) showed monophyletic group each role separately was positively associated with women\'s health but that the association between combined roles and health was very heterogeneous according to income level. Additionally, the effect of multiple roles seems to vary according to life stage. Whereas, among middle-aged women, multiple roles were associated with higher SRH, among younger and older women, higher SRH was associated with single-role status (Lee & Powers, 2002). Fewer studies have explored the impact of multiple roles on health in men. While some studies have found that combining roles has no effect on men\'s health (Hewitt et al., 2006), others have reported a positive association between multiple roles and health (Ahrens & Ryff, 2006; Kuntsche, Knibbe, & Gmel, 2009; Sachs-Ericsson & Ciarlo, 2000). Janzen and Muhajarine (2003) found that older men occupying three roles had better SRH than did men occupying one or two social roles. Roos, Lahelma et al. (2005) and Hewitt et al. (2006) found that men exhibited a strong association between non-employment and poor SRH that was not influenced by marital or parental status. Similarly, Schoon et al. (2005) found that men reported an especially high degree of life satisfaction in association with full-time employment. Unemployed men and men working 48h or more per week had mental health problems more frequently than full-time employed men working fewer hours, regardless of partner and parental statuses (Kroll, Müters, Rattay, & Lampert, accepted for publication).