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Work–Family Conflict, Job Insecurity, and Health Outcomes Among US Workers

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Abstract

Previous scholarship has highlighted how work–family conflict (work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict) and job insecurity interfere with health outcomes. Little work, however, considers how these stressors jointly influence health among workers. Informed by the stress process model, the current study examines whether job insecurity moderates the relationships between work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict and two health outcomes: self-reported physical health and poor mental health. The analyses also consider whether a greater moderating role is played by work-to-family conflict or family-to-work conflict. Using data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, we also examine if patterns diverge by gender. Our results show that work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict have direct effects on poor mental and physical health. Additionally, we find that the negative effect of work-to-family conflict on poor mental and physical health is stronger for those with job insecurity, while no such relationship was found for family-to-work conflict. We found no evidence of significant gender differences in how these relationships operate. Overall, we contribute to the literature by testing the combined effects of both forms of work–family conflict and job insecurity on poor mental and physical health. We also deepen the understanding of the stress process model by highlighting the salience of the anticipatory stressor of job insecurity.

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Notes

  1. The stress process model also highlights mediators of stress, such as social support or coping strategies, that buffer the impacts of stress (Pearlin et al. 1981). Although an important part of the stress process, we do not focus on mediators of stress here. Instead, we consider how two sources of stress combine to impact the manifestations of stress.

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  1. Department of Sociology, University of North Dakota, 225 Centennial Drive, Stop 7136, Grand Forks, ND, 58202-7136, USA

    Krista Lynn Minnotte

  2. Department of Sociology, William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Road, 465 Raubinger Hall, Wayne, NJ, 07470, USA

    Deniz Yucel

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Minnotte, K.L., Yucel, D. Work–Family Conflict, Job Insecurity, and Health Outcomes Among US Workers. Soc Indic Res 139, 517–540 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1716-z

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