Work-Family Conflict in the European Union: The Impact of Organizational and Public Facilities

Factors associated with psychological distress of workers in the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church

BACKGROUND

The work of church employees contains many elements causing symptoms of stress and anxiety. They can lead into psychological distress and possibly indicate the beginning of a more serious psychological state. Women seem to be more disposed to psychological stress than men. We investigated factors contributing to psychological distress among women and men in four professions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF).

METHODS

A link to an electronic survey was sent to the members of respective trade unions of four professions of the ELCF, and we got responses from pastors (n = 241), church musicians (n = 92), diaconal workers (n = 85) and youth workers (n = 56). Psychological distress was assessed using the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5; cut-off value ≤ 52 indicating severe distress). We used logistic regression to examine sociodemographic, health-related, and work-related factors that could potentially be associated with psychological distress.

RESULTS

We found severe psychological distress in all profession groups. Gender differences were scarce. Loneliness was the most important factor associated with psychological distress in both men and women (OR 14.01; 95% CI 2.68-73.25 and OR 7.84; 3.44-17.88, respectively), and among pastors and church musicians (OR 8.10; 2.83-23.16 and OR 24.36; 2.78-213.72, respectively). High mental strain of work was associated with distress in women (OR 2.45; 1.01-5.97). Good work satisfaction was a protective factor for men and women (OR 0.06; 95% CI 0.01-0.40 and OR 0.61; 0.18-0.40, respectively) and for pastors and church musicians (OR 0.22; 0.08-0.73 and OR 0.06; 0.01-0.43, respectively). For women, additional protective factors were being a pastor (OR 0.26; 0.07-0.95), or youth worker (OR 0.08; 0.01-0.48), and good self-reported health (OR 0.38; 0.18-0.82).

CONCLUSION

Even though we found some protective factors, the share of workers with severe distress was higher in all profession groups of the ELCF than in the general population. Loneliness was the strongest stressor among both genders and high mental strain among women. The result may reflect unconscious mental strain or subordination to the prevailing working conditions. More attention should be paid to the mental wellbeing and work conditions of church employees.

A comparative study of the work-family conflicts prevalence, their sociodemographic, family, and work attributes, and their relation to the self-reported health status in Japanese and Egyptian civil workers

Background

Cross-cultural studies studying work-family conflicts (W_F_Cs) are scarce. We compared the prevalence of W_F_Cs, factors correlated with them, and their association with self-rated health between Japan and Egypt.

Methods

Among 4862 Japanese and 3111 Egyptian civil workers recruited by a convenience sample in 2018/2019 and reported self-rated health status, we assessed the W_F_Cs by the Midlife Development in the US (MIDUS) and attributed them to sociodemographic, family, and work variables. We also evaluated the W_F_Cs’ gender- and country-specific associations with self-rated health by logistic regression analyses.

Results

W_F_Cs were more prevalent in Egyptian than in Japanese women (23.7% vs. 18.2%) and men (19.1% vs. 10.5%), while poor self-rated health was more prevalent in Japanese than Egyptians (19.3% and 17.3% vs. 16.9% and 5.5%). Longer working hours, shift work, and overtime work were positively associated with stronger work-to-family conflict (WFC). Whereas being single was inversely associated with stronger family-to-work conflict (FWC). Living with children, fathers, or alone in Japan while education in Egypt was associated with these conflicts. The OR (95% CI) for poor self-reported health among those with the strong, in reference to weak total W_F_Cs, was 4.28 (2.91–6.30) and 6.01 (4.50–8.01) in Japanese women and men and was 2.46 (1.75–3.47) and 3.11 (1.67–5.80) in Egyptian women and men.

Conclusions

Japanese and Egyptian civil workers have different prevalence and correlated factors of W_F_Cs and self-rated health. W_F_Cs were associated in a dose–response pattern with poor-self-rated health of civil workers in both countries.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-13924-0.

Predicting Work-Life Conflict: Types and Levels of Enacted and Preferred Work-Nonwork Boundary (In)Congruence and Perceived Boundary Control

In 2020, everyday life changed dramatically for employees worldwide as a result of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, where an estimated 558 million employees started working from home. The pandemic, therefore, marks a fundamental shift of individuals’ work-nonwork boundaries, which can impact work-life conflict. In particular, the interplay between individuals’ enacted boundaries (degree to which they separate/segment or blend/integrate work-nonwork), preferred boundaries (degree of preferred segmentation or integration of work-nonwork), and perceived control over work-nonwork boundaries, may relate to work-life conflict. This study, the first to the best of our knowledge, examines whether different types and levels of work-nonwork boundary (in)congruence matter for work-life conflict, and whether perceived boundary control moderates these relationships. Boundary (in)congruence represents the degree of (mis)fit between enacted and preferred segmentation or integration. Several types of (in)congruence are distinguished: “segmentation congruence” (enacting and preferring segmentation); “integration congruence” (enacting and preferring integration); “intrusion” (enacting integration but preferring segmentation) and “distance” (enacting segmentation but preferring integration). Data from 1,229 managers working in public and private organizations in Sweden was analyzed using polynomial regression analysis with response surface modeling and moderation analysis in SPSS Process. Findings showed that “integration congruence” was related with higher work-life conflict than “segmentation congruence.” Moreover, a U-shaped relationship between incongruence and work-life conflict was found: the more incongruence, the more work-life conflict. Specifically, “intrusion” was related to higher work-life conflict than “distance.” Finally, boundary control mitigated the effect of incongruence (especially “intrusion”) on work-life conflict. From our findings, we may conclude that work-life conflict is impacted differently depending on the type and level of boundary (in)congruence. Particularly enacted and/or preferred integration may be problematic when it comes to work-life conflict, rather than just (in)congruence per se. Moreover, boundary control can be viewed as a key factor in combating work-life conflict, especially among individuals who enact integration, but prefer segmentation. Taken together, our study contributes new and substantial knowledge by showing the importance for research and HRM-policies that take into account different types and levels of boundary (in)congruence, as these are associated with different levels of work-life conflict, which, in turn, are moderated by boundary control.

Impact of Work-Family Conflict on Sleep Complaints: Results From the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

Background: Balancing work and family demands is often a challenge. Family and job responsibilities may affect many aspects of health, and sleep is an important issue. Work-family conflict (WFC) refers to situations where it is difficult to reconcile family and professional demands. WFC can act in two directions: work-to-family conflicts occur when job demands interfere in family life; family-to-work conflicts arise when family demands interfere with job performance. This study evaluated whether dimensions of WFC-time- and strain-related, work-to-family conflict; family-to-work conflict; and lack of time for self-care and leisure due to work and family demands-were cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with sleep complaints, by gender. Methods: The sample comprised 9,704 active workers (5,057 women and 4,647 men) from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). Standardized questionnaires were used to collect data. WFC was measured at baseline (2008-2010), and sleep complaints were measured at baseline and approximately 4 years after the first visit (2012-2014). To test the association between the four WFC dimensions and sleep complaints, crude and multiple logistic regressions were conducted to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The adjusted model included age, education, marital status, hours worked and work schedule. Results: Mean age at baseline was 48.2 years. Most participants were educated to University degree level (54.5%), married (68.2%) and worked ≤ 40 h/week (66.1%). At baseline, 48.3% of women and 41.1% of men reported sleep complaints. Frequent WFC was reported by women and men, respectively, as follows: time-related work-to-family conflict (32.6 and 26.1%), strain-related work-to-family conflict (25.3 and 16.0%), family-to-work conflict (6.6 and 7.6%) and lack of time for self-care (35.2 and 24.7%). For both women and men, time- and strain-related work-to-family conflicts and conflicts for lack of time for self-care were cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with sleep complaints. The findings also suggest a weaker and non-significant association between family-to-work conflict and sleep complaints. Conclusions: The statistically significant associations observed here underline the importance of reducing WFC. In the modern world, both WFC and sleep problems are increasingly recognized as frequent problems that often lead to ill health, thus posing a public health challenge.

Factors contributing to psychological distress in the working population, with a special reference to gender difference

Background

Psychological distress refers to non-specific symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, and it is more common in women. Our aim was to investigate factors contributing to psychological distress in the working population, with a special reference to gender differences.

Methods

We used questionnaire data from the nationally representative Finnish Regional Health and Well-being Study (ATH) collected in the years 2012–2016 (target population participants aged 20 +, n = 96,668, response rate 53%), restricting the current analysis to those persons who were working full-time and under 65 of age (n = 34,468). Psychological distress was assessed using the Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5) (cut-off value <=52). We studied the following factors potentially associated with psychological distress: sociodemographic factors, living alone, having children under18 years of age, lifestyle-related factors, social support, helping others outside of the home and work-related factors. We used logistic regression analysis to examine association between having work-family conflict with the likelihood for psychological distress. We first performed the models separately for men and women. Then interaction by gender was tested in the combined data for those independent variables where gender differences appeared probable in the analyses conducted separately for men and women.

Results

Women reported more psychological distress than men (11.0% vs. 8.8%, respectively, p < 0.0001). Loneliness, job dissatisfaction and family-work conflict were associated with the largest risk of psychological distress. Having children, active participation, being able to successfully combine work and family roles, and social support were found to be protective factors. A significant interaction with gender was found in only two variables: ignoring family due to being absorbed in one’s work was associated with distress in women (OR 1.30 (95% CI 1.00–1.70), and mental strain of work in men (OR 2.71 (95% CI 1.66–4.41).

Conclusions

Satisfying work, family life and being able to successfully combine the two are important sources of psychological well-being for both genders in the working population.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-021-10560-y.