Women's perceived frequency of disturbing interruptions and its relationship to self‐rated health and satisfaction with life as a whole

Daily occupations form a pattern dominated by a few main occupations intertwined with hidden occupations. A third category is denoted unexpected occupations or minor events that interrupt the rhythm of main and hidden occupations. The phenomenon of unexpected occupations can be interpreted as an illustration of interruptions in daily life or daily minor stressors. The study aimed to investigate women's perceived frequency of such disturbing interruptions, and possible relationships with their self‐rated health and satisfaction with life as a whole. The study included 202 women aged 38 years, and 286 women aged 50 years who replied to a mailed questionnaire. The results showed that perceived high frequency of interruptions was related to poor subjective health among the younger women, and to low satisfaction with life as a whole in both age groups. Furthermore, the younger women perceived disturbing interruptions more frequently than the older ones, and among the younger women those who had children living at home and lived with a partner experienced disturbing interruptions more frequently than those without children living at home or those living single. The results should be interpreted with caution because the measurement of perceived interruptions has not yet been subjected to psychometric evaluation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.