Association between Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors and Work Functioning Impairment

The aim of this study was to examine the association between Family Supportive Supervisor Behaviors (FSSB), defined as supervisors' behaviors that assist subordinates in balancing work and family life, and work functioning impairment. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among 17,893 employees from six Japanese companies, and data from 12,027 respondents were included in the analysis. FSSB was assessed using the Japanese version of Hammer's 14-item scale, and work functioning impairment was measured with the Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun). Multivariate regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between FSSB and WFun scores, adjusting for age, gender, marital status, presence of children under age 18, presence of intra-family caregivers, and companies. After testing for interaction effects between FSSB and gender, stratified analyses were conducted. Additionally, we assessed the relationship between each of the four FSSB subdimensions and work functioning impairment. The results indicated a significant negative association between FSSB and WFun scores. The interaction between FSSB and gender was statistically significant. Stratified analyses revealed that higher FSSB scores were associated with lower WFun scores in both males and females, with a stronger association among males. Among the four subdimensions, emotional support, instrumental support, and creative work-family management were significantly associated with lower work functioning impairment, while role modeling behaviors was not. These findings suggest that strengthening FSSB may help reduce work functioning impairment in workplaces with increasingly diverse workforces.