Work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict and their relation to perceived parenting and the parent-child relationship before and during the first Covid-19 lockdown

Objective: Our objective is twofold: First, to examine whether, to what extent and for whom (by sex and educational attainment) work-to-family conflict (W→F-conflict) and family-to-work conflict (F→W-conflict) increased from the pre-Covid-19 period to the first lockdown period. Second, to examine whether and to what extent the negative associations between W→F-conflict/F→W-conflict and perceived parenting (positive encouragement, coercive parenting and the parent-child relationship) became stronger. Background: During the first Covid-19 lockdown, parents were asked to provide childcare and home-schooling for their children while also being expected to fulfil their work obligations. Under these circumstances, this study was set out to examine how W→F-conflict/F→W-conflict, perceived parenting and their associations were affected. Method: Multilevel regression models were applied to longitudinal data collected among 55 employed mothers and 76 employed fathers with a 3-year-old child at wave 1. Results: We found that F→W-conflict/W→F-conflict increased most strongly among highly educated mothers, followed by lower/medium educated mothers and highly educated fathers, while no increase or even a decrease was observed among lower/medium educated fathers. We found some associations between W→F-conflict/F→W-conflict with perceived parenting, but these did not consistently become stronger during the Covid-19 wave. Although overall heightened levels of conflict did not strongly spill over to mothers’ and fathers’ perceived parenting, our results showed that for some parents conflict clearly increased with negative implications for their perceived parenting. Conclusion: With some noteworthy exceptions, increases in F→W-conflict/W→F-conflict did not coincide with decreases in perceived parenting, indicating that most parents did not let increased conflict between work and family affect their parenting.

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Work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict and their relation to perceived parenting and parent-child relationship before and during the Covid-19 lockdown

10.31219/osf.io/cfn84 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Renske Verweij ◽

Katrien Helmerhorst ◽

Renske Keizer

Keyword(s):

Family Conflict ◽

Work And Family ◽

Multilevel Regression ◽

Parent Child Relationship ◽

Perceived Parenting ◽

Highly Educated ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Work Conflict ◽

Lower Medium ◽

Parent Child

Objective: Our objective is twofold: First, to examine whether, to what extent and for whom (by sex and educational attainment) work-to-family conflict (W→F-conflict) and family-to-work conflict (F→W-conflict) increased from the pre-Covid-19 period to the lockdown period. Second, to examine whether, to what extent and for whom the associations between W→F-conflict/F→W-conflict and perceived parenting (positive encouragement, coercive parenting and parent-child relationship) became stronger.Background: During the Covid-19 lockdown, parents were asked to provide childcare and home-schooling for their children while also being expected to fulfil their work obligations. Under these circumstances, this study was set out to examine how W→F-conflict/F→W-conflict, perceived parenting and their association were affected.Method: Multilevel regression models were applied to longitudinal data collected among 59 employed mothers and 77 employed fathers with a 3-year-old child.Results: We found that F→W-conflict/W→F-conflict increased most strongly among highly educated mothers, followed by lower/medium educated mothers and highly educated fathers, while no increase or even a decrease was observed among lower/medium educated fathers. We found some associations between W→F-conflict/F→W-conflict with perceived parenting, but these were not consistent for fathers nor mothers, nor across waves. Although overall heightened levels of conflict did strongly not spill-over to mothers’ and fathers’ perceived parenting, our results showed that for some parents, in particular those with high working hours, conflict clearly increased with negative implications for their perceived parenting.Conclusion: With some noteworthy exceptions, increases in F→W-conflict/W→F-conflict did not coincide with decreases in perceived parenting, indicating that most parents did not let increased conflict between work and family affect their parenting.

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Grief Experiences of Parents Whose Children Suffer from Mental Illness

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1080/j.1440-1614.2005.01518.x ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 39 (1-2) ◽

pp. 88-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Julia Godress ◽

Salih Ozgul ◽

Cathy Owen ◽

Leanne Foley-Evans

Keyword(s):

Mental Illness ◽

Health Status ◽

Extended Period ◽

Well Being ◽

Work And Family ◽

Parental Grief ◽

Parent Child Relationship ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Child Relationship ◽

Parent Child

Objective: To examine the grief experience of parents of adult children with a mental illness and its relationship to parental health and well-being and parent child attachment and affective relationship. Methods: Participants were recruited from a variety of organizations throughout Australia that provide support services for sufferers of mental illness and/or for their families. Seventyone participants (62 mothers and nine fathers) all of whom had a child diagnosed with mental illness volunteered to take part in the study. All completed measures of grief, health status and parent-child relationship. Results: Parents reported experiencing grief in relation to their child's illness as evidenced by intrusive thoughts and feelings and avoidance of behaviour as well as difficulties adapting to and distress associated with reminders of the illness. Parental grief appears to reduce over time, but only in some aspects of grief and after an extended period. Increased parental grief was related to lowered psychological well-being and health status and associated with an anxious/ambivalent and a negative affective parent-child relationship. Conclusion: The study provides important insights into the grief experiences of parents following their child's diagnosis with mental illness. The significant relationship between parental grief and parental psychological well-being and health status as well as to parentchild relationship has important implications for health professionals. Foremost amongst these are the need to validate the distress and grief of parents and to better understand how to provide interventions that promote grief work and family bonds while reducing emotional distress and life disruption.

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