Work-family balance and occupational health: Is this relationship possible? Current situation in the study of work-family conflict and recovery from stress

Actualizaciones y revisiones[ES] Los cambios económicos y sociales de los últimos años han generado nuevas estructuras organizacionales y familiares que afectan a los trabajadores. Aparecen así nuevos riesgos psicosociales, como el conflicto entre la vida laboral y familiar. Para poder enfrentarse a las demandas del trabajo y de la familia, es necesario tener un tiempo para recuperarnos del esfuerzo realizado. Así pues, para mejorar la calidad de vida del empleado, es necesario atender al bienestar de la persona en su conjunto. El objetivo del presente artículo es revisar las principales líneas de investigación surgidas en las últimas décadas en torno a estos temas. En primer lugar, se analizan los factores antecedentes del conflicto trabajofamilia así como sus consecuencias y diversas variables que intervienen en este proceso. Posteriormente, se examina la literatura reciente sobre “recuperación del estrés”, atendiendo a las estrategias que pueden ayudar a los trabajadores a superar los esfuerzos llevados a cabo en la rutina diaria. Por último, se presentan las principales líneas de prevención e intervención a nivel organizacional e individual, dirigidas a reducir los estresores laborales, promover políticas de conciliación y desarrollar estrategias de recuperación. [EN] The economic and social changes of the last years have created new organizational and family structures that affect workers. As a result, new psychosocial risks appear, as the conflict between work and family life. To meet work and family demands, people need time to recover from the expended effort. Thus, to improve the quality of life of the employee, it is necessary to attend to the well-being of the person in general. The aim of this paper is to review the main lines of research emerged during the last decades on these topics. First, we analyze the background and consequences of work-family conflict as well as the main variables affecting this process. Second, we examine recent literature on “recovery from stress”, focusing on the strategies that may help workers to overcome the efforts made during the daily routine. Finally, we present the main lines of prevention and intervention in the organizational and individual levels, aimed at reducing job stressors, promoting family-friendly policies and developing recovery strategies.N

Cross-domain consequences of workplace bullying: A multi-source daily diary study

In this multi-source daily diary study we examine the effect of exposure to workplace bullying behaviors on family domain outcomes (conflicts at home, relationship satisfaction), and the mediating role that psychological detachment and affective distress play in this relationship. A sample of 68 employees and their spouses filled in a quantitative diary for 5 consecutive working days twice a day (N occasions = 680). Multilevel analyses showed that daily workplace bullying positively predicted both self-report and spouse-report conflicts at home, and daily psychological detachment mediated this relationship. In addition, daily affective distress was the mediator only for self-report conflicts at home. Further, it was found an indirect effect of both affective distress and detachment on the relationship between bullying and self-reported relationship satisfaction. Detachment also showed an indirect role in the association between bullying and spouse-reported relationship satisfaction. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies in showing that negative effects of workplace bullying go beyond the work setting and beyond the employee. Moreover, this study adds to an emerging line of research exploring how daily negative work experiences are transferred to and interferes with the non-work domain. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed

Short-term trajectories of workplace bullying and its impact on strain: A latent class growth modeling approach

The aim of this weekly diary study was (a) to identify trajectories of workplace bullying over time and (b) to examine the association of each cluster with strain indicators (i.e., insomnia and anxiety/depression). A sample of 286 employees during 4 weeks of data was used (N occasions = 1,144). Results of latent class growth modeling showed that 3 trajectories could be identified: a nonbullying trajectory, which comprised 90.9% of the sample; an inverted U trajectory; and a delayed increase bullying trajectory; the latter two each had 4.2% of the participants. We found a significant interaction between time and trajectories when predicting insomnia and anxiety/depression, with each strain showing a differential pattern with each trajectory. It seems that the negative effects on insomnia are long-lasting and remain after bullying has already decreased. In the case of anxiety and depression, when bullying decreases strain indicators also decrease. In this study, by examining trajectories of bullying at work over time and their associations with strain, we provide new insights into the temporal dynamics of workplace bullying

Ripple Effects of Surface acting: A Diary Study among Dual-earner Couples

This study among 80 dual-earner couples examines the ripple effects of emotional labour – on a daily basis. Specifically, we propose that employees who engage in surface acting at work drain their energetic resources, and undermine their own relationship satisfaction. Drawing upon conservation of resources (COR) theory, we predicted that work-related exhaustion would mediate the relationship between surface acting at work and at home. In addition, we hypothesized that employees’ emotional energy in the evening would mediate the relationship between surface acting at home and (actor and partner) satisfaction with the relationship. Participants filled in a survey and a diary booklet during five consecutive working days (N = 80 couples, N = 160 participants x 5 days, N = 800 occasions). The hypotheses were tested with multilevel analyses, using the actor–partner interdependence model. Results showed that daily work-related exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between daily surface acting at work and at home. As hypothesized, daily surface acting at home influenced own and partner’s daily relationship satisfaction through reduced daily emotional energy. These findings offer support for COR theory, and have important implications for organizations that encourage emotion regulation

Attachment and work engagement in virtual teams: Promoting collaborative job crafting

Researchers are increasingly interested in how employee relational processes affect virtual team outcomes. Applying attachment theory and the Job Demands–Resources model, we examined the relationship between employee attachment orientations and work engagement, and the mediating role of collaborative job crafting. In a three-wave longitudinal panel study of 1178 employees in 225 virtual teams, autoregressive and multilevel structural equation modelling showed direct negative effects of (anxious and avoidant) attachment on work engagement. Indirectly, however, attachment positively influenced engagement, partially mediated by collaborative job crafting. Implications for attachment inclusive practices that support collaborative job crafting and work engagement are discussed

How work-self conflict/facilitation influences exhaustion and task performance: A three-wave study on the role of personal resources

Although work and family are undoubtedly important life domains, individuals are also active in other life roles which are also important to them (like pursuing personal interests). Building on identity theory and the resource perspective on work-home interface, we examined whether there is an indirect effect of work-self-conflict/facilitation on exhaustion and task performance over time through personal resources (i.e. self-efficacy and optimism). The sample was composed of 368 Dutch police officers. Results of the three-wave longitudinal study confirmed that work-self-conflict was related to lower levels of self-efficacy, whereas work-self-facilitation was related to improved optimism over time. In turn, self-efficacy was related to higher task performance, whereas optimism was related to diminished levels of exhaustion over time. Further analysis supported the negative, indirect effect of work-self-facilitation on exhaustion through optimism over time, and only a few reversed causal effects emerged. The study contributes to the literature on inter-role management by showing the role of personal resources in the process of conflict or facilitation over time

Elucidating the role of recovery experiences in the Job Demands-Resources Model

Subject to file availability and provided the posting includes a prominent statement of the full bibliographical details, a copyright notice in the name of the copyright holder (Cambridge University Press or the sponsoring Society, as appropriate), and a link to the online edition of the Journal at Cambridge Journals Online.Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, the current study examined the moderating role of recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment from work, relaxation, mastery experiences, and control over leisure time) on the relationship between one job demand (i.e., role conflict) and workand health-related outcomes. Results from our sample of 990 employees from Spain showed that psychological detachment from work and relaxation buffered the negative impact of role conflict on some of the proposed outcomes. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find significant results for mastery and control regarding moderating effects. Overall, findings suggest a differential pattern of the recovery experiences in the health impairment process proposed by the JD-R model.El estudio que aquí se presenta se fundamenta en el modelo de Demandas-Recursos Laborales y se centra en el análisis de las experiencias de recuperación distanciamiento psicológico, relajación, búsqueda de retos y ocio) como moderadoras de la relación entre las demandas laborales (conflicto de rol) y la salud relacionada con el trabajo. Los resultados obtenidos con una muestra laboral española de 990 trabajadores muestra que el distanciamiento psicológico y la relajación median el impacto negativo del conflicto de rol en las medidas propuestas. Contrariamente a los resultados esperados, no se encontraron resultados significativos para las variables de recuperación, mastery y ocio. En general, los resultados sugieren un patrón diferencial de las experiencias de recuperación en el proceso de salud propuesto por el modelo de Demandas-Recursos Laborales

Las intenciones de abandono del personal médico: el papel del burnout, el compromiso y las dificultades en las relaciones médico-paciente

Research on burnout and turnover intentions offers some inconsistent findings about the effects of commitment. In addition, a factor which is insufficiently studied in the turnover field is the relationship with the recipient of physicians’ work, that is, the patient. This study contributes to the research literature by examining how the moderating effect of commitment depends on difficult doctor-patient relations. A total of 480 physicians, representative of Madrid, completed the survey. According to the interaction effects and the three-way interaction analyses, the results support the argument that differences in commitment lead to differences in the way physicians perceive job, interpersonal, and chronic stress. These results add a new approach to the general assumption that commitment has a unilateral negative effect, and difficult patients have a positive effect on turnover intentions, suggesting an integrated perspective, rather than a diametrical one, that allows us comprehend the complexity of physicians’ turnover intentionsLas investigaciones sobre las relaciones entre el burnout y las intenciones de abandono muestran algunos datos inconsistentes en cuanto al efecto del compromiso. Asimismo, un factor relevante aunque insuficientemente investigado en el estudio de las intenciones de abandono es el relativo al efecto que tienen las actitudes del paciente en el proceso. En esta investigación abordamos el efecto moderador que los niveles de compromiso y las dificultades en las relaciones médico-paciente pueden tener en el proceso. Mediante una muestra representativa de 480 médicos los resultados mostraron efectos significativos en los análisis de regresión y de interacción triple. Estos resultados indican que las diferencias encontradas en cuanto a los niveles de compromiso inciden directamente en la percepción de las distintas fuentes de estrés médico tanto relacionadas con su trabajo, como con las relaciones interpersonales. Los resultados introducen una nueva aproximación al proceso de burnout y las intenciones de abandono mostrando que no existen efectos unilaterales negativos en el caso del compromiso y positivos en el caso del manejo de pacientes difíciles. En este sentido se hace necesaria una perspectiva integradora que nos permita comprender la complejidad del proceso por el que un profesional decide abandonar su puesto de trabaj

Positive Experiences at Work and Daily Recovery: Effects on Couple’s Well-Being

The present diary study investigates, at the within-person level, how job satisfaction mediates the relationship between self-rated job performance and recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment from work and relaxation) during off-job time. Furthermore, we explore the effects of these two recovery experiences on couple´s well-being. Data were collected from 145 dual-earner couples (N = 290 participants; N = 1450 occasions) with a daily diary design (five consecutive working days). Multilevel analyses showed that daily job performance positively predicted psychological detachment and relaxation, and that daily job satisfaction partially mediated this relationship. In addition, we found that psychological detachment and relaxation have positive effects on own and partner´s indicators of well-being (i.e., relationship satisfaction and positive emotions). The benefits of recovery go beyond the individual and affect their partner´s level of well-being

The bullied who bullies: the reciprocal relationship between victim and aggressor in workplace bullying situations

El objetivo del presente estudio consistió en explorar las relaciones longitudinales entre los factores organizacionales (sobrecarga de trabajo y justicia procedimental) y ser agresor y víctima de conductas de acoso. Se compararon distintos modelos causales (modelo de estabilidad, de causalidad normal, de causalidad inversa y modelo recíproco). La muestra estuvo compuesta por 286 empleados de dos empresas de Madrid, y se empleó un intervalo temporal de un año. Los resultados de los modelos de ecuaciones estructurales mostraron que el modelo recíproco fue el que mejor ajuste presentaba. Se encontró que la sobrecarga T1 se relacionaba positivamente con ser víctima de acoso T2, mientras que la justicia procedimental presentaba una relación negativa con ser víctima de acoso T2. Se halló un efecto inverso entre ser víctima de acoso T1 y la sobrecarga T2. Además, se encontró una relación recíproca entre ser agresor y víctima de acoso. En general, estos resultados enfatizan la necesidad de extender los modelos causales tradicionales del acoso hacia enfoques más dinámicosThe aim of this study was to explore longitudinal relationships between organizational factors (workload and procedural justice) and targets and perpetrators of workplace bullying. We compared several causal models (baseline or stability, normal, reversed and reciprocal models). The sample comprised 286 employees from two companies in Madrid, and we used a time-lag of one year. Results of structural equation modeling analyses showed that reciprocal model fit the data the best. We found that T1 workload was related positively to T2 target of bullying, and T1 procedural justice was related negatively to T2 target of bullying. There was a signifi cant reverse effect of T1 target of bullying on T2 workload. Furthermore, we found a reciprocal relationship between being the target and the perpetrator of bullying. Overall, these fi ndings emphasize the need to extend the traditional causal models of workplace bullying to more dynamic approache