The aim of this project is to assess the influence of demographic characteristics attitudes, and social roles on disability in midlife women. In particular, we wish to empirically examine the theoretical assertion that women's social roles and attitudes explain their greater tendency to report themselves disabled in comparison with men. The project will build on the prior theoretical and empirical work in sociology and economics which addresses illness behavior (the sick role) and the determinants of disability. We will study the impact of demographic and economic characteristics, attitudes, and social roles by testing a cross-sectional model using data from the Social Security Administration's 1978 Survey of Disability and Work. We plan to estimate the model (stratified by income) for women between the ages of 35 and 64, and separately for three age cohorts (35-49, 50-59 and 60-64). Attitudes will be measured by questions in the survey regarding the importance of employment and health maintenance and social activities. Social roles will be represented by marital status, presence of dependent children, employment history, and (for married women only) employment status of spouse. The demographic and economic characteristics found in other studies to influence disability will serve as control variables. We will also evaluate these variables for our sample after breaking it into 3 age cohorts so that we can assess whether the influence of these factors varies over the life course. We will estimate the same models for a comparison group of men. Disability is a social consequence of chronic ill health. It is a significant problem for women because of its greater incidence in midlife and its positive association with age. Understanding the impact of social roles and attitude on disability in women should facilitate the formation of preventive and ameliorative policies for our older population.