Bidirectional work-family conflicts and work engagement: A longitudinal study
Yumiko Kobayashi1, Maho Haseda2, Naoki Kondo2
1Research Department, Institute for Health Economics and Policy, Association for Health Economics Research and Social Insurance and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Health and Social Behavior, Faculty of Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|February 1, 2025
Summary
Work interference with family (WIF) negatively impacts work engagement for all employees. Family interference with work (FIW) particularly affects women
Area of Science:
- Organizational Psychology
- Occupational Health
- Sociology of Work and Family
Background:
- Work engagement (WE) is crucial for employee well-being and retention.
- Work-family conflict (WFC), encompassing Work Interference with Family (WIF) and Family Interference with Work (FIW), is known to negatively affect WE.
- The specific longitudinal impacts of WIF and FIW on WE, considering gender and household composition, require further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the longitudinal associations between WIF and FIW with WE.
- To examine how these associations differ based on employee gender and household composition.
- To provide a nuanced understanding of WFC's impact on WE over time.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study design using web-based surveys administered in 2020 and 2021.
- Targeted full-time employees of a single private company (N=3,437 initially, 425 completed both surveys).
- Multiple regression analyses stratified by gender and household composition, with baseline WIF/FIW predicting WE one year later.
Main Results:
- Higher WIF was generally associated with lower WE across all demographic groups, though not always statistically significant.
- FIW showed a tendency towards a negative association with WE, particularly pronounced among women.
- These findings suggest WIF impacts all workers, while FIW disproportionately affects women.
Conclusions:
- WIF may deplete resources for personal life, affecting all employees.
- FIW, potentially related to domestic responsibilities, may reduce focus on paid work, especially for women in family settings.
- Understanding these gendered and context-specific dynamics is key for targeted interventions to support WE.
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