How parents' psychological detachment from work affects their children via fatigue: The moderating role of gender.

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that psychological detachment from work can impact employees' work and family lives. Based on conservation of resources theory and social role theory, the present study examined the process through which working parents' psychological detachment from work influences their children's perception of neglectful parenting (emotional warmth and rejection). Specifically, we examined the mediating role of parents' fatigue and the moderating role of parent gender in this process. Data were collected from working parents (n=371) and their children in junior high school (n=371, 10-13 years old) at two time points with a three-month interval. Our results showed that working parents' psychological detachment from work at Time 1 significantly predicted children's perception of parent emotional warmth and rejection at Time 2, and parents' fatigue at Time 2 mediated this relationship. Besides, parent gender moderated this mediated process such that the positive indirect effect of parent psychological detachment from work on emotional warmth via fatigue was stronger for working mothers than for working fathers. These findings contribute to the limited research on the effects of psychological detachment from work on family members and highlight the importance of parent gender in children's perceptions of working parents' behaviours.