Parental satisfaction of U.S. physicians: associated factors and comparison with the general U.S. working population

Physicians work considerably longer hours and are less satisfied with work-life balance than U.S. workers in other fields. There is, however, minimal data on physicians' parental satisfaction.

To evaluate differences in parental satisfaction among physicians and workers in other fields, we surveyed U.S. physicians as well as a probability-based sample of the general U.S. working population between August 2014-October 2014. Parental satisfaction and the perceived impact of career on relationships with children were evaluated.

Among 6880 responding physicians (cooperation rate 19.2 %), 5582 (81.1 %) had children. Overall, physicians were satisfied in their relationships with their children, with 4782 (85.9 %) indicating that they were either very satisfied [n = 2738; (49.2 %)] or satisfied [n = 2044 (36.7 %)]. In contrast, less than half believed their career had made either a major [n = 1212; (21.8 %)] or minor positive [n = 1260; (22.7 %)] impact on their relationship with their children, with a slightly larger proportion indicating a major (n = 2071 [37.2 %]) or minor (n = 501 [9 %]) negative impact. Women physicians were less likely to believe their career had made a positive impact as were younger physicians. Hours worked/week inversely correlated with the belief that career had made a positive impact on relationships with children. Both men (OR: 2.75; p < 0.0001) and women (OR: 4.33; p < 0.0001) physicians were significantly more likely to report that their career had a negative impact on relationships with their children than the sex-matched U.S. working population.

U.S. physicians report generally high satisfaction in their relationships with their children. Despite their high satisfaction, physicians have a more negative perception of the impact of their career on relationships with their children than U.S. workers in general.