Abstract
Research consistently documents the negative effects of work-family conflict; however, little research focuses on alcohol use. This study embraces a tension reduction theory of drinking, wherein alcohol use is thought to reduce the negative effects of stress. The purpose of the study was to test a moderated mediation model of the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use in a Chicagoland community sample of 998 caregivers. Structural equation models showed that distress mediated the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use. Furthermore, tension reduction expectancies of alcohol exacerbated the relationship between distress and alcohol use. The results advance the study of work-family conflict and alcohol use, helping explain this complicated relationship using sophisticated statistical techniques. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Highlights
Research consistently documents the negative effects of work-family conflict; little focuses on alcohol use
The purpose of the present study was to determine whether psychological distress mediates the relationship between work-family conflict (WFC) and alcohol use (H1), and whether the relationship between the distress and alcohol use is moderated by tension reduction expectancies (H2)
Bivariate correlations showed that WFC was positively related to depression, anxiety, tension reduction expectancies, and the alcohol indicators, except binge drinking
Summary
Research consistently documents the negative effects of work-family conflict; little focuses on alcohol use. To date, observed associations between WFC and alcohol tend to be small, leading scholars to call for more complex models (e.g., mediational models) to better explain the relationship between WFC and alcohol use.[1,7,10,11] For example, following affect regulation-based models of alcohol use, employees may turn to alcohol to relax and ease the tensions resulting from WFC In other words, they self-medicate through alcohol use.[12,13] Another possibility is that chronic stress related to WFC leads to feelings of distress[14] such as depression and anxiety, both of which are associated with alcohol use.[15,16] In the present study, we test a moderated-mediation model using structural equation modeling to examine whether psychological distress mediates the relationship between WFC and alcohol use, and whether the mediator effect differs for those who have different expectations about the tension-reduction properties of alcohol. Research shows that WFC is associated with hypertension, coronary heart disease, peptic ulcers, and cancer[14] as well as job and life dissatisfaction, chronic depression, and anxiety.[1,25,26] Highlighting the problematic and socially costly effects associated with WFC may help convince policymakers of the need to provide interventions that can help mitigate WFC,[1] potentially reducing the occurrence of significant health problems, including alcohol use and abuse
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