Sex and Employment-Setting Differences in Work-Family Conflict in Athletic Training.

Abstract

Work-family conflict (WFC) has received much attention in athletic training, yet several factors related to this phenomenon have not been examined, specifically a practitioner's sex, occupational setting, willingness to leave the profession, and willingness to use work-leave benefits. To examine how sex and occupational differences in athletic training affect WFC and to examine willingness to leave the profession and use work-leave benefits. Cross-sectional study. Multiple occupational settings, including clinic/outreach, education, collegiate, industrial, professional sports, secondary school, and sales. A total of 246 athletic trainers (ATs) (men = 110, women = 136) participated. Of these, 61.4% (n = 151) were between 20 and 39 years old. Participants responded to a previously validated and reliable WFC instrument. We created and validated a 3-item instrument that assessed willingness to use work-leave benefits, which demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.88), as well as a single question about willingness to leave the profession. The mean (± SD) WFC score was 16.88 ± 4.4 (range = 5 [least amount of conflict] to 25 [highest amount of conflict]). Men scored 17.01 ± 4.5, and women scored 16.76 ± 4.36, indicating above-average WFC. We observed no difference between men and women based on conflict scores (t244 = 0.492, P = .95) or their willingness to leave the profession (t244 = -1.27, P = .21). We noted differences among ATs in different practice settings (F8,245 = 5.015, P <.001); those in collegiate and secondary school settings had higher reported WFC scores. A negative relationship existed between WFC score and comfort using work-leave benefits (2-tailed r = -0.533, P < .001). Comfort with using work-leave benefits was different among practice settings (F8,245 = 3.01, P = .003). The ATs employed in traditional practice settings reported higher levels of WFC. Male and female ATs had comparable experiences of WFC and willingness to leave the profession.