Perceived time adequacy improves daily well-being: day-to-day linkages and the effects of a workplace intervention

ABSTRACT

Workplace interventions may change how employed parents experience family and personal time. This study examined the day-to-day linkages between time resources (assessed by time use and perceived time adequacy for parenting, partner, and personal roles) and daily well-being and tested whether a workplace intervention enhanced the linkages. Participants were employed, partnered parents in the information technology division of a large US firm and who provided eight-day diary data at two times (N = 90). Multilevel modeling revealed that, on days when parents perceived lower time adequacy than usual for the three roles, they reported less positive affect, more negative affect, and more physical symptoms, independent of time spent in the roles. Moreover, a workplace intervention designed to give employees more temporal flexibility and support for family responsibilities increased daily time spent with the focal child and increased perceived time adequacy for exercise. The intervention also decreased negative affect and physical symptoms for parents who spent more time with child and partner than the sample average. Our results highlight the importance of perceived time adequacy in daily well-being and suggest that workplace support can enhance perceived time adequacy for self and the experience of family time.

RÉSUMÉ

Les interventions de lieu de travail peuvent changer comment les parents employés éprouvent la famille et le temps personnel. Cette étude a examiné les tringleries de jour en jour entre les ressources de temps (évaluées par adéquation de temps perçue par utiliser-et de temps pour parenting, associé, et rôles personnels) et le bien-être quotidien et examiné si une intervention de lieu de travail a augmenté les tringleries. Des participants ont été employés, les parents partnered dans la division technologique de l'information d'une grande entreprise des États-Unis qui a fourni des données de huit jours de journal intime à deux fois (N = 90). La modélisation à multiniveaux a indiqué que, des jours quand les parents ont perçu l'adéquation inférieure de temps que d'habitude pour les trois rôles, ils ont rapporté l'affect moins positif, un affect plus négatif, et des symptômes plus physiques, indépendant de temps dépensé dans les rôles. D'ailleurs, une intervention de lieu de travail a conçu pour donner à des employés une flexibilité plus temporelle et le soutien des responsabilités de famille a augmenté le temps quotidien passé avec l'enfant focal et a augmenté l'adéquation perçue de temps pour l'exercice. L'intervention a également diminué l'affect négatif et les symptômes physiques pour les parents qui ont passé plus de temps avec l'enfant et l'associé que la moyenne d'échantillon. Nos résultats accentuent l'importance de l'adéquation perçue de temps dans le bien-être quotidien et suggèrent que l'appui de lieu de travail puisse augmenter l'adéquation perçue de temps pour l'individu et l'expérience du temps de famille.

KEYWORDS:

• Daily diary
• daily well-being
• perceived time adequacy
• time use
• workplace intervention

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Journal intime quotidien
• bien-être quotidien
• adéquation perçue de temps
• utilisation de temps
• intervention de lieu de travail

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by Soomi Lee, Susan M. McHale, Ann C. Crouter, Erin L. Kelly, and David M. Almeida. Outside of the current work, Orfeu M. Buxton received two subcontract grants to Penn State from Mobilesleeptechnologies.com (NSF/STTR #1622766, NIH/NIA SBIR R 43AG056250).

Notes on contributors

Soomi Lee is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Biobehavioral Health and affiliated with the Center for Healthy Aging.

Susan M. McHale is a Distinguished Professor at the Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and the Director of the Social Science Research Institute and Children, Youth, and Family Consortium.

Ann C. Crouter is Dean, College of Health and Human Development and Professor of Human Development at the Pennsylvania State University.

Erin L. Kelly is a Professor in Work and Organization Studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management and affiliated with the Institute for Work and Employment Research.

Orfeu M. Buxton is an Associate Professor at the Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Biobehavioral Health, an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School in the Division of Sleep Medicine, Associate Neuroscientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the department of Medicine, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Harvard Chan School of Public Health in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

David M. Almeida is a Professor at the Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and affiliated with the Center for Healthy Aging.

Additional information

Funding

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