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Longitudinal associations between work-family conflict and enrichment, inter-parental conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing problems
journal contribution
posted on 2018-08-01, 00:00 authored by Andisheh Vahedi, Isabel Krug, Matthew Fuller-TyszkiewiczMatthew Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Elizabeth WestruppElizabeth WestruppRATIONALE: Work-family conflict and enrichment refer to parents' challenges and benefits of combining work and family roles. Emerging evidence suggests detrimental effects of work-family conflict and facilitating effects of work-family enrichment on couple, family, and child functioning. This effect may be more pronounced in mothers, who must juggle different roles within the family and work context. To date, research has examined these relations as unidirectional, but reciprocal associations may be possible. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the shape and direction of associations between maternal work-family conflict and enrichment, child internalizing and externalizing problems, and inter-parental conflict. METHOD: Growth curve modelling used six waves of biennial data spanning ten years of childhood (4-5 to 14-15 years) for 2946 children and their employed mothers from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. RESULTS: Results indicated bidirectional associations between the work-family interface and child outcomes; mothers' initial work-family conflict was associated with a quadratic increase in child internalizing (but not externalizing) problems over time. Child internalizing problems at 4-5 years predicted a linear decrease in mothers' work-family enrichment over time. However, work-family enrichment at 4-5 years was not associated with the change in either child internalizing or externalizing problems. Work-family conflict and inter-parental conflict at 4-5 years were not associated with change in one another. Initial work-family enrichment was associated with a quadratic decrease in inter-parental conflict, and initial inter-parental conflict was associated with a linear increase in externalizing problems; no evident reverse association was found. CONCLUSION: Findings demonstrate the importance of the work-family interface in shaping family health outcomes. The primary direction of influence was from work-family factors to inter-parental conflict and child mental health problems. Thus, interventions aimed at promoting family-friendly work environments and policies would likely yield benefits for parents and their families.
History
Journal
Social science & medicineVolume
211Pagination
251 - 260Publisher
ElsevierLocation
Amsterdam, The NetherlandsPublisher DOI
ISSN
0277-9536eISSN
1873-5347Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2018, Elsevier Ltd.Usage metrics
Categories
Keywords
Inter-parental conflictInternalizing and externalizing problemsWork-family conflictWork-family enrichmentScience & TechnologySocial SciencesLife Sciences & BiomedicinePublic, Environmental & Occupational HealthSocial Sciences, BiomedicalBiomedical Social SciencesMENTAL-HEALTHMOTHERS WORKINTERPARENTAL CONFLICTMEDIATING ROLEPOPULATIONBEHAVIORSEXPOSUREFATHERSEconomics
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