The Importance of Social Support to the Work-Family Conflict and Well-Being Relationship for Healthcare Workers

摘要

With the increasing prevalence of dual incomes, single-parent households, and employees having to manage both child and elder care responsibilities, work-family conflict is a common occurrence for many individuals. Work-family conflict occurs when pressures from one's work and family roles are mutually incompatible. Indeed, work and family issues have received more attention as their impact on employee well-being has gained recognition.;The present study uses a mixed-methods, cross-lagged longitudinal design to examine the effects of work-family conflict on well-being, specifically hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Hedonic well-being focuses on happiness or pleasure while eudaimonic well-being focuses on meaning and self-realization. Using two samples from a large health system, these relationships are examined for nurses and physicians, occupations known for having high demands and unique challenges. Consistent with theories such as the buffering hypothesis, conservation of resources theory, and job demands-resources, family-related supervisor and coworker support are examined as moderators of the work-family conflict---well-being relationship. Further, the study examines employees' perceived availability and usage of family-friendly benefits in association with work-family conflict.;A total of 212 participants completed both Time 1 and Time 2 surveys. Longitudinal analyses indicated that work-family conflict had a negative impact on life satisfaction and eudaimonic well-being, and a positive impact on negative affect. Hierarchical regression analyses found both family-related supervisor and coworker support to be moderators of the conflict---well-being relationship. Results from model comparisons by profession indicated the model fit for better for physicians than nurses.;Overall, results are important for informing organizations of the kinds of support (e.g., supervisor or coworker) important for increasing employees' well-being and for who (e.g., nurses or physicians). Training supervisors and coworkers on family-supportive behaviors has been suggested as a feasible, inexpensive way to alleviate employees' work and family issues. Importantly, this study highlights the use of informal arrangements in managing work and family demands, and also provides insight into employees' awareness and use of formal family-friendly policies. This study makes significant contributions to the field with the use of a newly developed scale measuring coworker support, and through the novel integration of positive organizational behavior and work-family literatures.