Abstract
Aims: The aims of the current study are to examine whether parents’ work-family conflict, emotional distress (anxiety/depressive symptoms and parenting stress) and mindful parenting vary according to the type of employment (full-time, part-time, and occasional), the type of work schedule (fixed, flexible, and shift), and the number of working hours per week and to explore whether parental emotional distress mediates the association between work-family conflict and mindful parenting dimensions.Methods: A sample of 335 employed parents (86.3% mothers) of children and adolescents between the ages of 1 and 19 years old completed a sociodemographic form and measures of work-family conflict, anxiety/depression symptoms, parenting stress, and mindful parenting. The differences in study variables among types of employment, work schedules and number of weekly working hours were analyzed. A path model was tested through structural equation modeling in AMOS to explore the indirect effect of work-family conflict on mindful parenting dimensions through anxiety, depression and parenting stress. The invariance of the path model across children’s age groups (toddlers, preschool and grade school children, and adolescents) and parents’ gender was also examined.Results: Parents with a shift work schedule, working full-time and 40 h or more per week, presented significantly higher levels of work-family conflict than those with a fixed or flexible schedule, working part-time and less than 40 h per week, respectively. Parents with a flexible work schedule presented significantly higher levels of self-regulation in parenting and of non-judgmental acceptance of parental functioning than parents with a shift work schedule. Higher levels of work-family conflict were associated with lower levels of mindful parenting dimensions through higher levels of anxiety/depression symptoms and parenting stress. The model was invariant across children’s age groups and parents’ gender.Discussion: Work-family conflict is associated with poorer parental mental health and with less mindful parenting. Workplaces should implement family-friendly policies (e.g., flexible work arrangements) that help parents successfully balance the competing responsibilities and demands of their work and family roles. These policies could have a critical impact on the mental health of parents and, consequently, on their parental practices.
Highlights
Balancing the dual demands of work and parenting pose a great challenge to contemporary parents
We found that parents with a shift work schedule, parents with a full-time job, and parents who work 40 h
We found that parents with a flexible work schedule had higher levels of self-regulation in parenting and higher levels of non-judgmental acceptance of parental functioning than parents with a fixed or shift work schedule
Summary
Balancing the dual demands of work and parenting pose a great challenge to contemporary parents. Labor markets are becoming increasingly competitive and insecure, requiring parents to make a great commitment to work and dedicate much of their family and personal time to their jobs. In Portugal, the employment rate for all Portuguese mothers (aged 15–64) with at least one child aged 0–14 is 75.7% (68.4% working full-time), which is higher than the OECD average (66.2%) and one of the highest rates among OECD countries. The proportion of children (aged 0–14) that live in households where both parents work full-time is 61.9%, which is higher than the OECD average of 56%. Family-friendly workplace policies, which are key determinants of a family ability to reconcile work and family life, are not employed by the majority of companies in Portugal. Only 34.5% of companies report providing flexible working time arrangements, such as the possibility to accumulate hours for days off (full or half days) and to vary the start and end of daily work, to at least some employees (the OECD average is 53.4%) (OECD, 2019)
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