Abstract
We examined the mediating role of behavioral coping strategies in the association between work-family conflict and psychological distress. In particular, we examined the two directions of work-family conflict, namely, work interference into family and family interference into work. Furthermore, two coping styles in this study were adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 429 Malaysian working women using self-reported data. The results of mediational analysis in the present study showed that adaptive coping strategy does not significantly mediate the effect of work-family conflict on psychological distress. However, maladaptive coping strategies significantly mediate the effect of work-family conflict on psychological distress. These results show that adaptive coping strategies, which aimed to improve the stressful situation, are not effective in managing stressor such as work-family conflict. We found that experiencing interrole conflict steers employees toward frequent use of maladaptive coping strategies which in turn lead to psychological distress. Interventions targeted at improvement of coping skills which are according to individual's needs and expectation may help working women to balance work and family demands. The important issue is to keep in mind that effective coping strategies are to control the situations not to eliminate work-family conflict.
Highlights
The psychologically important aspects of everybody’s life are employment, marriage, and parenting [1]
Roles and responsibilities interfere into work role, which is called Family Interference into Work (FIW)
Work roles and responsibilities can interfere with family role, which is called Work Interference into Family (WIF)
Summary
The psychologically important aspects of everybody’s life are employment, marriage, and parenting [1]. Parenting roles could have a constructive impact on an individual’s life [2]. Lack of ability to balance the responsibilities associated with these roles can lead to conflict between work and family domains [3]. Roles and responsibilities interfere into work role, which is called Family Interference into Work (FIW). Work roles and responsibilities can interfere with family role, which is called Work Interference into Family (WIF). This is a reciprocal relationship; in which work issues occur if the job obligations remain unfulfilled because a person’s family interferes with work. We used the two directions of WIF and FIW to examine their outcomes separately
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