Running and its effect on family life

To determine the frequency with which commitment to running conflicts with family life, to distinguish between runners who experience conflict and those who do not based on their levels of commitment to the roles of runner and family member, and to determine whether runners who reported conflict receive less support for running from their significant other.

A questionnaire was mailed to 1426 members of a running club. Personal demographics, running quantity, conflict, commitment to running, family commitment, and spouse support were measured. The Family APGAR scale was used to measure global family functioning, assessing adaptation, partnership, growth, affection, and resolve.

There were 724 respondents for a response rate of 50.8%. Five hundred fifty-eight runners (356 men, and 202 women) lived with a partner. The mean score for conflict was 1.9. Only 32 (5.5%) had a score above 3 (high conflict). When evaluated together and separately, the women and men in the high-conflict groups had equal commitment to running, lower family commitment, lower spouse support, and a lower Family APGAR score compared with the low-conflict group.

In this study running is not a major contributor to family conflict. Those runners who are experiencing conflict seem to have a more global conflict with their families that is independent of running, manifested by decreasing spouse support for the runner's activities. If a runner is an active, committed member of his or her own family and sets this commitment as a priority, it does not appear that the time and energy of running is by itself a source of conflict.