Gender Difference in Work‐Family Conflict among Japanese Information Technology Engineers with Preschool Children

Kubota

et al. 2013

Work-to-family Conflict and Family-towork Conflict among Japanese Dual-earner Couples with Preschool Children: A Spillover-Crossover Perspective: Akihito SHIMAZU, et al. Department of Mental Health, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Japan-Objectives: This study among Japanese dual-earner couples examined the independent and combined associations of work-tofamily conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) with psychological health of employees and their partners and the relationship quality between partners. Methods: The matched responses of 895 couples were analyzed with logistic regression analysis to examine whether there were differences among the four workfamily conflict groups (i.e., no conflict, WFC, FWC and both conflicts groups) in terms of own psychological distress, social undermining (i.e., negative behaviors directed toward the target person) reported by partners and partner's psychological distress. The no conflicts group was used as the reference group. Results: The both conflicts group had the highest odds ratios for own psychological distress and social undermining towards the partner for both genders. In addition, for husbands, the both conflicts group had the highest odds ratio for partner's psychological distress, whereas for wives, it did not. Conclusions: Dual experiences of WFC and FWC have adverse associations with psychological health of employees and relationship quality between partners of both genders. In addition, dual experiences in husbands have an adverse association with psychological health of their partners (i.e., wives), whereas this

Section: Work-family Conflict and Psychological Health (Hypothesis 1)supporting

confidence: 93%

Work‐to‐family Conflict and Family‐to‐work Conflict among Japanese Dual‐earner Couples with Preschool Children: A Spillover‐Crossover Perspective

Kubota

et al. 2013

“…Previous studies in Japan have mainly focused on the effects of (female and male) workers' WFC on their own well-being (e.g., depression, job and family satisfaction) [38][39][40][41][42][43][44] . However, there are no empirical studies among Japanese dual-earner couples that have investigated both spillover and crossover processes through which job demands affect an intimate partners' well-being.…”

Section: Bakker Et Almentioning

confidence: 99%

How Job Demands Affect an Intimate Partner: A Test of the Spillover‐Crossover Model in Japan

Demerouti

2009

How Job Demands Affect an IntimatePartner: A Test of the Spillover-Crossover Model in Japan: Akihito SHIMAZU, et al. Department of Mental Health, The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Medicine-Objectives: The present study examined how job demands affect an intimate partner's well-being. We hypothesized that job demands have a negative influence on partner well-being through the experience of work-family conflict (WFC) and an impaired quality of the relationship (reduced social support and increased social undermining towards the partner). Methods: The participants of this study were 99 couples of dual-earner parents in Japan. Results: Consistent with hypotheses, men's job demands (i.e. overload and emotional demands) were positively related to their own reports of WFC, and indirectly to women's ratings of men's WFC. Consequently, women's ratings of men's WFC were negatively related to the quality of the relationship (i.e. decreased social support from and increased social undermining by men), which, in turn, led to women's ill-health (i.e. depressive symptoms and physical complaints). We found similar findings for the model starting with women's job demands; gender did not affect the strength of the relationships in the model. Conclusions: These findings suggest that high job demands initiate a process of work-family conflict and poor relationship quality, which may eventually affect the intimate partner's well-being in an unfavorable way. Research has suggested that Japanese employees are highly committed to their work 1) . Indeed, the Japanese work longer hours than employees in most other industrial nations 2) . These long work hours may become a problem for employees' intimate relationships with their partners when efforts to fulfill the demands of work interfere with the ability to fulfill the demands of the roles as a spouse, parent, or caregiver 3) . The present study among Japanese dual-earner couples will focus on the impact of job demands on partner wellbeing. Specifically, we will examine whether high job demands may initiate a process of work-family conflict and consequently affect the quality of the relationship (i.e., increased social undermining and reduced social support provided to an intimate partner), which eventually affects partner well-being in an unfavorable way. We will use the recently formulated Spillover-Crossover model 3,4) to test our hypotheses.The Spillover-Crossover model Earlier studies have identified two different ways in which strain is carried over from the work to the family domain 5,6) . Work-family conflict or spillover is a withinperson across-domains transmission of demands and consequent strain from one area of life to another. Previous research has primarily focused on how experiences in the work domain are transferred to and interfere with the non-work domain for the same individual 7) . In contrast, crossover involves transmission across individuals, whereby demands and their consequent strain have effects on between closely related persons 6) . Thus...

“…To gain a better understanding of the effects of work-family spillover on psychological health, it is important to consider both positive and negative aspects of combining work and family roles. Second, although there have been several studies in Japan that have examined the relationship between work-family negative spillover and health outcomes [18][19][20] , generalization of the results awaits further empirical examination due to the limited number of participants and/or the use of homogeneous samples (e.g., working mothers, men in specific type of employment). Hence, an investigation among a broader and heterogeneous sample of employees still stands out.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Frone et al 11,14) found that gender did not moderate the relation between work-family conflict and psychiatric disorders, and Watai et al 20) showed that WFNS was significantly correlated with depression and fatigue among both male and female employees in Japan. On the other hand, MacEwen and Barling 22) reported that FWNS was related to depression only for males, Hammer et al 8) also found significant relationships between WFNS/FWNS and depression only for males.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Work‐family Spillover among Japanese Dual‐earner Couples: A Large Community‐based Study

Shimada

et al. 2010

Work-family Spillover among Japanese Dual-earner Couples: A Large Community-based Study: Kyoko SHIMADA, et al. The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Department of Mental Health-Objectives: To examine the effects of multiple types of work-family spillover (work-to-family negative spillover, WFNS; family-to-work negative spillover, FWNS; and work-family positive spillover, WFPS) on psychological distress among Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children. Methods: 2,346 parents completed questionnaires measuring workfamily spillover, work-and family-specific variables (i.e., job demands and resources, family demands and resources), and psychological distress. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted by entering demographic characteristics (gender, age, age of the youngest child, and job contract) in step 1, job demands and resources in step 2, family demands and resources in step 3, work-family spillover in step 4, and three twoway interactions between types of work-family spillover and gender in the final step. Results: Both WFNS and FWNS were positively related to psychological d i s t r e s s a f t e r c o n t r o l l i n g f o r d e m o g r a p h i c characteristics and domain specific variables (i.e. job and family demands/resources), and FWNS (β=0.26) had a stronger relation with psychological distress than WFNS (β=0.16). Although WFPS was significantly and negatively related to psychological distress, the relationship was weak (β=-0.05). In addition, two-way interactions of WFNS and FWNS with gender were found; the impact of both WFNS and FWNS on psychological distress is stronger for females than for males. No significant interaction effect was observed between WFPS and gender. Conclusions: In this study of Japanese dual-earner couples with preschool children, work-family negative spillover had a stronger relationship with psychological distress than positive spillover. Gender had a moderating effect on the relationship between negative spillover and psychological distress. (J Occup Health 2010; 52: 335-343)