Work-home Conflict Research Articles

Stress levels of science teachers when delivering distance education instruction in a state college during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically reshaped education worldwide, compelling institutions to rapidly adopt distance education models. Among those most affected are science educators, who face unique challenges in transitioning traditional classroom instruction to virtual platforms. Understanding the stressors experienced by science teachers during this shift is crucial not only for their well-being but also for the effectiveness of educational delivery. This study aims to investigate the stress levels and sources of stress experienced by science teachers at Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST) during the shift to distance education. The specific objectives were to determine the overall stress levels, identify the least stressful pre-identified causes of stress, compare the significance of different categories of stressors, and develop an intervention program based on the findings. A descriptive comparative research design with a quantitative approach was used, involving a purposive sample of 45 science teachers. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire, which included sections on demographic information, perceived stress levels, and specific stressors related to professional skills, technical skills, work-home conflict, and support systems. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA. The results indicated that science teachers experienced moderate to high levels of stress, with professional and technical skills being the most prominent stressors. Support systems, although somewhat helpful, still contributed to the overall stress levels. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to alleviate these stressors, such as professional development programs, enhanced support systems, and policies addressing work-home conflict. In conclusion, this study underscores the importance of addressing the specific stressors identified to improve the well-being of science teachers and the effectiveness of distance education. Further research is recommended to develop and evaluate interventions aimed at reducing teacher stress, enhancing teaching effectiveness, and understanding the long-term impact of these interventions in digital environments.

A network approach to PhD students’ well-being: insights into risk and protective factors

ABSTRACT Due to the high demands of doctoral education, concerns have been raised about PhD students’ well-being. In addition to the adverse individual impact, poor well-being of PhD students is also problematic for universities, which might lose talented researchers via absenteeism and drop-out. Despite substantial knowledge about factors influencing well-being in academia, we know little about how these factors jointly promote or impede PhD students’ well-being. We applied network analysis, alongside regression analysis, to cross-sectional data from 665 PhD students in the Netherlands to explore how PhD students’ job demands, job resources, and personal resources are associated with subjective and archival well-being indices. Findings suggest that job demands, job resources, and personal resources influence PhD students’ well-being directly and indirectly via associations with other factors. Among job demands, both publication pressure and work-home conflict were associated with higher burnout. Additionally, work-home conflict was associated with higher sickness absenteeism. Psychological capital stood out as the most important resource within the network and was related to lower burnout, higher engagement, and lower sickness absenteeism. By highlighting the importance of personal resources, particularly psychological capital, for PhD students’ well-being, this study can guide the development of interventions to promote PhD students’ well-being.

Predictors of Job Satisfaction among Polish Teachers

The term “job satisfaction” refers to emotional responses and ways of thinking about work in a given structure. It is the degree of self-fulfillment that an employee experiences while performing work-related duties. Work satisfaction is linked to positive attitudes towards employment and more effective results. The aim of the orginal research presented in the article is to determine the predictors of job satisfaction among Polish teachers. Individual factors such as gender, length of service, personality variables (emotional stability, agreeableness, extroversion), work-home conflict, as well as organizational factors, i.e., overall work climate, were also considered. The research was conducted on a sample of 952 teachers from across Poland. Women accounted for 87.6% (n=834) and men for 12.4% (n=118) of the respondents The average age was M=46.47 (SD=9.59). A survey questionnaire was used for the purposes of the study, and hierarchical regression analysis was applied to develop the research results. School climate, work-home conflict, and level of extroversion were found to be significant predictors of job satisfaction. Given that personality factors are difficult to change, an effective way to increase teachers’ job satisfaction is to take care to build a positive school climate and fair distribution of responsibilities, which can reduce work-home conflict.

Highly Oppositional Occupations and Cognitive Behavioral Script-Based Mechanisms of Work–Home Conflict

Highly Oppositional Occupations and Cognitive Behavioral Script-Based Mechanisms of Work–Home Conflict

Switching Back and Forth: Daily Technology-Facilitated Work-Home Transitions and Work-Home Conflicts

Switching Back and Forth: Daily Technology-Facilitated Work-Home Transitions and Work-Home Conflicts

Burnout and predictive factors among medical students: a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundBurnout is a growing problem in medical education, and is usually characterised by three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. Currently, the majority of burnout studies have been conducted in western high-income countries, overshadowing findings from low- and middle-income countries. Our objective is to investigate burnout and its associated predictive factors in Morocco, aiming to guide intervention strategies, while also assessing differences between the preclinical and clinical years.MethodsA cross-sectional, self-administered online survey assessing burnout dimensions and its main determinants was distributed among medical students at Université Mohammed VI des Sciences et de la Santé (UM6SS, Casablanca, Morocco). Descriptive analyses involved computing mean scores, standard deviations and Pearson correlations. Further, t-tests were performed to check for significant differences in burnout dimensions across the preclinical and clinical learning phase, and stepwise linear regression analyses were conducted using a backward elimination method to estimate the effects of the selected variables on the three burnout dimensions.ResultsA t-test assessing the difference in cynicism found a significant difference between students at the preclinical phase and the clinical phase, t(90) = -2.5, p = 0.01. For emotional exhaustion and reduced professional efficacy no significant difference was observed. A linear regression analysis showed that emotional exhaustion was significantly predicted by workload, work-home conflict, social support from peers and neuroticism. Cynicism was predicted by the learning phase, workload, meaningfulness and neuroticism; and reduced professional efficacy by neuroticism only.ConclusionsOur findings suggest a potential gradual increase in cynicism during medical education in Morocco. Conducting this study in a low- and middle income country has enhanced the scientific understanding of burnout in these regions. Given the identified predictive factors for burnout, such as workload, work-home conflict, support from peers, neuroticism, and meaningfulness, it is necessary to focus on these elements when developing burnout interventions.

Excessive, flexible and (still) seen as gender neutral: Journalists’ perceptions about their job during the Covid-19 pandemic

Mainstream newsroom routines have faced significant shifts in the last decades. Regardless of its nature, these changes can be seen from a gender perspective and framed within neoliberalism, seen as a structural force affecting people’s lives and an ideology of governance that shapes subjectivities. In this paper, we aim to discuss how neoliberalism influenced the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on newsrooms and journalists’ working conditions from a gender lens. For this purpose, thirty semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted between October and December 2021 with Portuguese female and male junior and senior journalists of different levels of hierarchy working in mainstream media. Their perceptions of the pandemic impact on news production show the intersections of sexism and neoliberalism in the newsroom settings. Journalists accept as part of the job the long working hours and the personal cost of health protection material and essential equipment to work from home while normalising the work-home conflict as a private woman’s matter. These findings are discussed as reflecting how neoliberal logic has made the impacts of the pandemic heavier, especially for women.

Occupational stress among Norwegian physicians: A literature review of long-term prospective studies 2007-2019.

There are signs of increased stress at work among Norwegian physicians over the last decades, not least among general practitioners (GPs). In this review, we identify trends in both occupational stress and adverse work-related predictors of such stress and burnout in Norwegian physicians. We performed an extensive literature search using MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. We included prospective and repeated cross-sectional studies of work stress among Norwegian physicians published in 2007-2019. Nine studies with observation periods of 1-20 years were included. Occupational stress (global measure) among all doctors decreased gradually from medical school to 20 years later. The prevalence of an effort-reward imbalance increased fourfold among GPs during the period 2010-2019. Five studies reported higher levels of occupational stress among female physicians than among their male colleagues. Work-home conflict levels increased after graduation until 10 years after leaving medical school and plateaued thereafter. Physicians who graduated in a later cohort reported lower levels of work-home conflict and less workplace violence. Work-home conflict, low colleague support, number of work hours and workload/low autonomy were all independent predictors of occupational stress. The reduction in occupational stress during the years after leaving medical school may result from increased competency in clinical work and decreased on-call work. The Co-ordination Act implemented in 2012 may explain the increase in occupational stress among GPs. These findings suggest that both reducing work-home conflict and increasing colleague support are important for doctors' well-being.

Motivational drivers and psychological detachment in shaping the work–home interface for Saudi women

PurposeThis study examines the role of Saudi women’s work motivational drivers on work–home conflict (WHC) and work–home enrichment (WHE). It considers the moderating role of psychological detachment from work during the evening between one workday and the next and how it impacts on the mediating role of WHC and WHE on work performance.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on self-determination theory and enrichment and depletion perspectives on the work–home interface, the study employs a quantitative lagged study over a period of three consecutive working days, with data collected from 358 Saudi women working in academia.FindingsModerated mediation structural equation modelling (MMSEM) analysis reveals that intrinsic motivation is significantly, positively related to WHE and home–work enrichment (HWE), whereas extrinsic motivation is only significantly and positively related to home–work conflict (HWC). Results show that detaching from work weakens the positive association between intrinsic motivation and HWE. In line with predictions, WHE is significantly, positively related to citizenship behaviour towards both individuals and organizations, whilst HWE is significantly related to citizenship behaviour towards individuals only. HWC is only significantly related to citizenship behaviour towards the organisation.Social implicationsThe research highlights the enriching experiences for Saudi women, who have the opportunity to pursue a career and highlight benefits of their ongoing empowerment.Originality/valueThis research brings a unique motivational perspective to work–life research and addresses a shortcoming of work–life research in considering an understudied culturally distinct population. It emphasises on the enriching experiences of Saudi women who have the opportunity to pursue a career, highlighting the benefits of their ongoing empowerment.

How Embeddedness Influences IT-Induced Work–Home Boundary Reduction, Work–Home Conflict, and Job Outcomes

Work–home conflict (WHC) explains how IT use blurs the boundaries between work and private roles. We extend that knowledge by highlighting the importance of work–home embeddedness (WHE) and its impact on WHC. Drawing on boundary theory, we hypothesize that IT-induced work–home boundary reduction (IT-WHBR) exacerbates WHC, influencing job outcomes. Utilizing embeddedness theory and data from 862 individuals, we categorize three distinct WHE groups. Our findings clarify how IT-WHBR shapes WHC and how diverse WHE groups moderate the relationship between IT-WHBR, WHC, and job outcomes. This paper significantly contributes to existing literature by revealing dynamics within work-home interactions.

How Does a Junior Faculty Development Program Affect Burnout? A Mixed Methods Assessment.

Burnout is common among junior faculty. Professional development has been proposed as a method to improve engagement and reduce burnout among academic physicians. The Penn State College of Medicine Junior Faculty Development Program (JFDP) is a well-established, interdisciplinary program. However, an increase in burnout was noted among participants during the program. The authors sought to quantify the change in burnout seen among JFDP participants across 3 cohorts, and to explore sources of well-being and burnout among participants. Through a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, participants in the 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21 cohorts took a survey assessing burnout (Copenhagen Burnout Inventory), quality of life (QoL), job satisfaction, and work-home conflict at the start and end of the course. Descriptive statistics were generated as well as Pearson χ2 test/Fisher exact test for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank sum tests for continuous variables for group comparisons. To better understand the outcome, past participants were invited to interviews regarding their experience of burnout during the course. Inductive thematic analysis (kappa = 0.86) was used to derive themes. Start- and end-of-course surveys were completed by 84 and 75 participants, respectively (response rates: 95.5% and 85.2%). Burnout associated with patient/learner/client/colleague increased (P = .005) and QoL decreased (P = .02) at the end compared with the start. Nonsignificant trends toward worsening in other burnout categories, work-home conflict, and job satisfaction were also observed. Nineteen interviews yielded themes related to risks and protective factors for burnout including competing demands, benefits of networking, professional growth, and challenges related to diverse faculty roles. Junior Faculty Development Program participants demonstrated worsening of burnout and QoL during the program while benefiting from opportunities including skill building and networking. The impact of Junior Faculty Development Programs on the well-being of participants should be considered as an element of their design, evaluation, and refinement over time.

Epidemiology of Work Place Stress among Medical Educators in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, India

Abstract Objective: To assess the prevalence of workplace stress and its correlates amongst medical educators in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala. Materials and Methods: A study was conducted amongst medical teachers of both genders, in the age group of 20–70 years, in Pathanamthitta district, Central Kerala, from June 2022 to December 2022. Results: About 7.2% and 4.5% of the study participants experienced severe and potentially dangerous levels of stress. Age group, excessive additional duty, lack of research and personal growth opportunities, work–home conflict and lack of self-motivation were some of the risk factors for workplace stress amongst study participants. Conclusion: Workplace stress is prevalent amongst medical educators. Many variables that have emerged as risk factors of academic procrastination amongst study participants are modifiable.

Technology-induced Strain from Team Communication Platforms: Empirical Evidence for Working from Home

Working from home (WFH) has recently become a widespread form of workplace transformation. Here, digital team communication platforms (TCP), like Microsoft Teams or Slack, have essential value for enabling WFH at a large scale. However, TCPs facilitate permanent availability and distractions, indicating stress potential for employees, particularly when WFH. Therefore, this study examines the occurrence of TCP-generated technostress and its drivers in the WFH environment. Based on the Transaction-Based Stress Theory and technostress literature, we developed a research model with perceived strain as the outcome variable, shaped by TCP technology characteristics and established stressors. To validate the proposed model, we conducted a survey with 503 participants who have worked with TCP from home. Structural equation modelling revealed a variance explained of R²=.573 for perceived strain from TCP. We confirmed the TCP technology characteristics of mobility, interruption, and usefulness to correlate with the stressors of work-home conflict, work overload, and role ambiguity. These stressors, in turn, significantly shaped the outcome variable perceived strain. Furthermore, we found the ability to mentally detach from work to have a buffering moderator effect on the impact of stressor role ambiguity. Correspondingly, we provide implications for theory and practice on how TCP could be implemented with the goal of reducing harm to employee well-being.

Employer‐oriented flexible work in health care: A diary study on the resulting cognitive demands and their relationship with work–home outcomes

AbstractThis study investigates how cognitive demands resulting from employer‐oriented flexibility (i.e. to coordinate with others, to structure work tasks and to organize work and private obligations) relate to work–home outcomes among health care professionals. To understand the underlying psychological mechanisms of the relationship between cognitive demands resulting from employer‐oriented flexibility and work–home outcomes, we combined the challenge–hindrance approach with role theory. We hypothesized a positive relationship between cognitive demands resulting from employer‐oriented flexibility and work–home conflict via cognitive effort (strain process) and between cognitive demands resulting from employer‐oriented flexibility and work–home enrichment via learning to self‐organize (learning process). Eighty‐eight health care professionals working in eldercare homes participated in a diary study and provided 407 day‐level datasets. They completed questionnaires twice a day over 5 working days. Our analyses show that the relationships between daily cognitive demands resulting from employer‐oriented flexibility and work–home outcomes depend on strain and learning processes. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that cognitive demands resulting from employer‐oriented flexibility, although ambivalently related to work–home outcomes on the person level, trigger distinct strain and learning processes on the day level: daily coordinating with colleagues and daily structuring work tasks were related to work–home conflict via cognitive effort, whereas daily organizing work and family obligations was associated with work–home enrichment via learning to self‐organize.

Work Ability and Its Correlates With Workers Aging Among Blue-Collar Workers in a Manufacturing Company: A Cross-sectional Study.

This article assesses work ability in a sample of blue-collar workers who often perform physically demanding tasks. The data collected resulted in 354 validly completed questionnaires from 426 participants (response rate: approximately 90%). In this sample, the average score on WAI of workers is 37.42 (SD = 6.62), indicating good work ability. Regression analyses revealed that work ability was significantly associated skill discretion (β = 0.365, P = 0.001), home-work conflict (β = -0.199, P = 0.001), and work-home conflict (β = -0.320, P = 0.001). Of the psychosocial factors examined in this study, skill discretion was the most important factor associated with work ability. Therefore, it is necessary to develop measures that support this component.

Re-configuring the jigsaw puzzle: Balancing time, pace, place and space of work in the Covid-19 era

Drawing on the principles of Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and the Work–Home Resources (W-HR) model, this research captured the lived experiences of 19 parents from across Scotland during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The data were derived initially from two digital interviews per participant, with interview content in both cases informed by preceding questionnaires. A third phase of interviews was conducted post the pandemic. Findings revealed that while participants valued increased flexibility gained through enforced home working, this often led to feelings of guilt, working longer hours and perceived work intensification. Work–home conflict emerged as a source of tension, dependent upon social and relational interactions, and physical and shared spaces at home. The authors analyse these issues in the context of job crafting as a means of organising the jigsaw pieces of work–home conflict as participants transitioned to a ‘new normal’. In conclusion they examine the implications and suggest avenues for further research.

Oppositional Occupations and Automatic Script-based Mechanisms of Work-Home Conflict

Oppositional Occupations and Automatic Script-based Mechanisms of Work-Home Conflict

Technostress and academic motivation: direct and indirect effects on university students' psychological health.

Research has well demonstrated that the pandemic entailed several implications among university students worldwide in terms of increased use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), technostress, disruptions in academic goals and motivation processes, and growing psychological suffering. Responding to the new research need to go in-depth into the processes linking technostress and motivation dimensions to inform current research/interventions, the present study aimed to explore the direct effects of perceived Technostress dimensions (Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Pace of Change, Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, and Techno-Sociality) and Academic Motivation dimensions (Amotivation, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Motivation dimensions) on students' perceived levels of Anxiety/Depression and test the potential indirect effect (mediating role) of Academic Motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress and psychological health conditions. Overall, 1,541 students from five European countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Serbia, United Kingdom) completed a survey comprising a Background Information Form, the Technostress Scale, the Academic Motivation Scale-College, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Hayes' PROCESS tool was used to test direct and indirect (mediating) effects. Data revealed that Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Amotivation, and Extrinsic Motivation-Introjected had a direct negative effect, whereas Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, Techno-Sociality, all Intrinsic Motivation dimensions, and Extrinsic Motivation-Identified had a direct protective role for students' psychological health. The significant indirect role of motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress dimensions and Anxiety/Depression was fully supported. Findings allow gaining further insight into the pathways of relationships between technostress, motivation, and psychological health, to be used in the current phase, featured by the complete restoration of face-to-face contacts, to inform the development of tailored research and interventions, which address lights and shadows of the technology use, and which take into account the necessity to enhance its potentials yet without impairing students' motivation and psychological health.

Job embeddedness and life satisfaction during pandemic: the impacts of work-from-home stressors and emotional exhaustion

PurposeThis study applies the job demands-resources model the conservation of resources theory to explain and examine the impacts of home-work conflict, perceived insufficient organizational support, and perceived social isolation, that is, work-from-home stressors, oDesign/methodology/approachData were collected from 418 Thai employees who worked from home during the nationwide lockdowns at two time points. The hypotheses were tested and analyzed by means of a confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and a bootstrapping procedure.FindingsThe results indicate that the three work-from-home stressors significantly cause emotional exhaustion and that these stressors are negatively associated with job embeddedness and life satisfaction via the mediation of emotional exhaustion.Research limitations/implicationsTo reduce error in parameter estimation due to self-report data, future research could use a more rigorous longitudinal design with a longer time lag and collect data from multiple sources.Practical implicationsRealizing how critical situations shape the workplace would help organizations understand the issues concerning a remote work approach and create more applicable interventions to improve employees' retention and wellbeing.Originality/valueThis study reinforces the application of COR in times of crisis and extends the traditional JD-R model beyond the normal work context.

Zamor suosjećanja i sagorijevanje kod stručnjaka u području tretmana ovisnosti tijekom pandemije COVID-19

The aim of this research was to determine the levels of compassion fatigue and burnout in addiction workers and to assess the possibility of prediction of the variance of those variables using mental health workers' work stressors and experienced stress due to changes in working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the moderating effect of compassion satisfaction in the relationship between work stressors and compassion fatigue was tested. 126 addiction workers (79,7 % women) participated in this research. The following instruments were used: Oldenburg Burnout Inventory, Professional Quality of Life Scale, Mental Health Professional Stress Scale, and Perceived Stress due to Changes in Working Conditions during the COVID-19 Pandemic Questionnaire, developed for the purpose of this study. Compassion fatigue (secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout) was determined by client-related difficulties, home-work conflict, relationship and conflicts with other professionals and organisational structure and processes. Burnout (OLBI) was determined by workload-related stress. Compassion satisfaction was found to have a moderating effect in the relationship between work stressors and compassion fatigue. Perceived stress due to changes in working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic predicted both secondary traumatic stress and burnout (OLBI).