Not just work-to-family conflict, but how you react to it matters for physical and mental health

ABSTRACT

Individuals with higher work-to-family conflict (WTFC) in general are more likely to report poorer physical and mental health. Less research, however, has examined the daily implications of WTFC, such as whether individuals’ reactions to minor WTFC day-to-day (e.g. missing family dinner due to work obligation) are associated with health outcomes. We examined whether affective reactivity to daily WTFC was associated with poorer sleep, health behaviours, and mental health in a sample who may be particularly vulnerable to daily WTFC. Employed parents in the IT industry with adolescent-aged children (N = 118, M_age= 45.01, 44.07% female) reported daily WTFC and negative affect on 8 consecutive days, in addition to completing a survey that assessed sleep, health behaviours (smoking, drinking, exercise, fast food consumption), and psychological distress. Multilevel modelling outputted individual reactivity slopes by regressing daily negative affect on the day’s WTFC. Results of general linear models indicated that affective reactivity to WTFC was associated with poorer sleep quality and higher levels of psychological distress – even when controlling for average daily negative affect on non-WTFC days. Individual differences in reactivity to daily WTFC have implications for health. Interventions aimed to reduce daily WTFC and reactivity to it are needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Work-family conflict
• stress reactivity
• sleep
• physical health
• mental health
• daily diary

Acknowledgements

This research was conducted as part of the Work, Family and Health Network (www.WorkFamilyHealthNetwork.org), which is funded by a cooperative agreement through the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant # U01HD051217, U01HD051218, U01HD051256, U01HD051276), National Institute on Aging (Grant # U01AG027669), Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Grant # U01OH008788, U01HD059773). Grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Grant #R01HL107240), William T. Grant Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Administration for Children and Families have provided additional funding.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute on Aging: [Grant Number U01AG027669]; Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: [Grant Number U01HD059773,U01OH008788]; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: [Grant Number R01HL107240]; William T. Grant Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Administration for Children and Families; National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: [Grant Number U01HD051217,U01HD051218,U01HD051256,U01HD051276].