Typology of Work-Family Balance Among Middle-Aged and Older Japanese Adults

Makiko Tomida; Yukiko Nishita; Chikako Tange; Takeshi Nakagawa; Rei Otsuka; Fujiko Ando; Hiroshi Shimokata

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.751879

Typology of Work-Family Balance Among Middle-Aged and Older Japanese Adults

Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 16:13:751879. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.751879. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Makiko Tomida¹, Yukiko Nishita¹, Chikako Tange¹, Takeshi Nakagawa², Rei Otsuka¹, Fujiko Ando^{1

3}, Hiroshi Shimokata^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology of Aging, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.
² Department of Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.
³ Department of Health and Medical Sciences, Aichi Shukutoku University, Nagakute, Japan.
⁴ Graduate School of Nutritional Sciences, Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences, Nisshin, Japan.

Abstract

This study explores the clusters of work-family balance (WFB) among Japanese middle-aged and older adults and clarifies the characteristics of the derived clusters. Data on working adults (N = 1,351; age range = 40-85 years) were drawn from a pool of participants in the National Institute for Longevity Sciences-Longitudinal Study of Aging. The WFB scale consists of subscales assessing work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family facilitation (WFF). First, a cluster analysis was performed using the WFB scale, and four clusters were extracted. Second, we examined associations between the four clusters and related variables such as demographic characteristics, work, family, and lifestyle factors, social support, and mental health. Our findings showed that the clusters included high-WFC/high-WFF, high-WFC/low-WFF, low-WFC/high-WFF, and low-WFC/low-WFF. Differences were found in related variables among the clusters. Specifically, those in the Low-WFC/High-WFF cluster had a good lifestyle, received the highest levels of social support, and had the fewest mental health issues. Our findings have implications for maintaining sufficient WFB and promoting positive mental health among workers.

Keywords: lifestyles; mental health; social support; work–family conflict; work–family facilitation.