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. 2022 Mar 9:10:782217.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.782217. eCollection 2022.

Family Relationships Under Work From Home: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Processes

Hongyue Wu  1 , Q Chelsea Song  2 , Robert W Proctor  2 , Yunfeng Chen  1
Affiliations

Family Relationships Under Work From Home: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Processes

Hongyue Wu et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Work-from-home (WFH) influences both work and life, and further impacts family relationships. The current study explored the impacts of WFH on family relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic and identified effective adaptive processes for maintaining family relationships under WFH. Using the Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model, the study examined the roles of adaptive processes (spending time with family members and balancing work and life) and demographic differences (gender, age, marital status, and education level) in the relation between WFH and family relationships. Path analysis results based on an online survey (N = 150) suggested that, overall, WFH improved family relationships through proper adaptive processes. WFH had a positive relation to time spent with family members, and this relation was especially salient for workers with lower education levels. While there was no statistically significant overall relation between WFH and work-life balance, older workers tended to engage in increased work-life balance during WFH. Both adaptive processes were positively related to family relationship quality. The findings advance the understanding of family relationships and WFH and provide practical recommendations to enhance family relationships under WFH.

Keywords: Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) model; adaptive processes; family relationships; work from home (WFH); work-life balance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposed conceptual model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Path models with standardized coefficients. (A) Family relationships under WFH considering spending time with family members. (B) Family relationships under WFH considering balancing work and life. Both figures were based on N = 150 participants and 263 responses. WFH was dummy coded (0 indicates before WFH, while 1 indicates during WFH). Gender was dummy coded (0 indicates women, while 1 indicates men). Marital status was dummy coded (0 indicates single, while 1 indicates married or lived together). Solid arrow lines indicated the statistically significant relations, while dotted arrow lines showed the relations that were not statistically significant. *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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