When work-family conflict hits home: Parental work-family conflict and child health

J Occup Health Psychol. 2019 Oct;24(5):590-601. doi: 10.1037/ocp0000145. Epub 2018 Dec 27.

Abstract

Work-family conflict affects employee performance and well-being. However, despite the underlying focus of work-family research on family health and well-being, we have limited knowledge about the impact of role-based stressors, such as work-family conflict, on child health. In this study, we propose and test the stressor-self-regulatory resources-crossover framework. In the spirit of extension of existing work-family research to other cultural settings, we report on two multisource studies conducted in Nigeria to explain whether, how, why, and when parental work-family conflict relates to child health. In Study 1, we collected multisource data from parent-child pairs in low-income families to test whether parental self-regulatory resources explain why work- family conflict relates to child health, resulting in findings that support the stressor-self-regulatory resources-crossover framework. In order to identify possible targets for future organizational-based interventions, we collected Study 2 data from parents and their children (who were enrolled at private schools) to test whether job autonomy and job demands altered the relationship between parental self-regulatory resources and child health. Moderator analyses of the multisource data reveal that self-regulatory resources matter for child health only when job demands are high or when job autonomy is low, pointing to potential intervention and policy levers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child Health
  • Conflict, Psychological*
  • Family Conflict / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Job Satisfaction
  • Middle Aged
  • Nigeria
  • Occupational Stress / psychology*
  • Parent-Child Relations*
  • Parents / psychology*
  • Self-Control*
  • Students
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Work Performance
  • Young Adult