Work/Family Conflict, Psychological Well-Being, Satisfaction and Social Support: A Longitudinal Study in New Zealand

Abstract

A survey of employed workers was conducted at two time periods to assess relationships between work-family conflict, well-being, and job and family satisfaction, along with the role of social support from work colleagues and family members. Levels of work-to-family interference (WFI) were found to be uniformly higher than family-to-work interference (FWI). However, at each time period FWI showed more consistent negative relationships with well-being and satisfaction, indicating that family-to-work interference may have a greater bearing on employees' affective reactions. There were few cross-time relationships between work-family conflict and these reactions, which suggests that the association of work-family conflict with well-being and satisfaction may be time-dependent. Although there was some evidence that social support from work colleagues moderated the relationship of WFI with psychological strain and family satisfaction, family support did not display a consistent moderator influence. Instead, both forms of support tended to exhibit direct (rather than moderator) relationships with the outcome variables. Implications of the findings for research and interventions are discussed.