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Associations between Mothers’ Work-Family Conflict and Children’s Psychological Well-being: The Mediating Role of Mothers’ Parenting Behavior

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Abstract

Objectives

Work-family conflict (WFC) has severe negative effects on workers’ health and well-being. This study examined whether parents’ WFC also affects the well-being of their children. It was analyzed whether, and to what extent, maternal WFC is associated with child emotional and behavioral problems, and whether this association is mediated by mothers’ use of harsh parenting practices.

Methods

Using data from two waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam) a total of 1781 children and their employed mothers were analyzed using mediation modeling with pooled OLS regressions.

Results

The analyses show that children whose mothers experience higher levels of WFC report higher levels of emotional problems, conduct problems, and hyperactivity. The results also indicate that this association is mediated by mothers’ parenting behavior.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that mothers’ parenting behavior underpins the association between maternal WFC and child behavioral problems: Mothers who experience higher levels of WFC use harsher parenting practices, which negatively affects their children’s well-being.

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Author Contributions

S.H. designed the study and analyzed the data. S.H. and M.P.-S. collaborated in writing the manuscript.

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  1. Magdeburg University, Faculty of Human Sciences, Zschokkestr. 32, 39104, Magdeburg, Germany

    Stephanie Hess & Matthias Pollmann-Schult

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Hess, S., Pollmann-Schult, M. Associations between Mothers’ Work-Family Conflict and Children’s Psychological Well-being: The Mediating Role of Mothers’ Parenting Behavior. J Child Fam Stud 29, 1561–1571 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01669-1

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