Associations between Work–Family Balance, Parenting Stress, and Marital Conflicts during COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore

Abstract

Objective:To identify profiles of parents’ work-family balance (WFB) and social support and examine their links with parenting stress and marital conflict.Background:As part of the “Circuit-breaker” social distancing measure to address COVID-19, the government of Singapore closed schools and workplaces from April-May 2020. Although this helped reduce transmission rates, for working parents, this period had been a challenging experience of working from home while providing care for children full-time. Problems in the work-home interface can have a significant impact on parenting and marital harmony.Method:We collected data from 258 parents in Singapore using online surveys. Latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of parents’ WFB and spousal and employer support. Linear regression was used to examine links between profiles with parenting stress and marital conflicts. Results:Results indicated three distinct profiles of WFB and social support levels: (a) Strong (43%), (b) Moderate (38%), and (c) Poor (19%). Mothers were more likely than fathers to be in the Moderate and Poor profiles. One key finding is that profiles characterized by poorer WFB were found to be linked with higher parenting stress and increased marital conflicts. Conclusion:There are important variations in parents’ abilities to balance work and family and levels of social support received. Lock-downs can be detrimental to parenting and marital harmony especially for parents with poor WFB and weak social support. Implications:Any attention given to supporting working parents is vital and urgent to counter any problems in the work–family interface during a lock-down

COVID-19 Life Events Spill-Over on Family Functioning and Adolescent Adjustment

“…Individuals with strong support from spouses and employers and a positive work-life balance during the pandemic also report less marital and parental stress than those with lower levels of support and less balance (Chung, Chan, et al, 2020). Similarly, Brown et al (2020) found that parents who received more support from others reported less perceived stress.…”

“…Craig and Churchill (2020) found that the quarantine period was associated with increased burden in household labor and that Australian mothers and fathers reported a greater dissatisfaction with how that labor was divided during the pandemic. Moreover, Chung, Chan et al (2020) found that Singaporean couples with strong support from spouses and employers experienced less martial and parental stress during the pandemic and, in turn, better work-family balance was associated with lower parenting stress and decreased marital con ict. Thus, emerging studies show that pandemic stress and changes in family functioning are impacting individual functioning.…”

“…Pandemic-related changes in family functioning, however, have been less studied than changes in individual family member's functioning. Yet, emerging ndings suggest that the pandemic has increased marital strain and parental stress leading to harsher parenting and weakening parent-child relationships (Chung, Chan et al, 2020;Fontanesi et al, 2020).…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public and governmental responses have led to rapid and at times drastic changes in the life of the family (e.g., Craig & Churchill, 2020;Gambin et al, 2020). Although some of these changes result in stressors that challenge family functioning (Chung, Chan et al, 2020;Fontanesi et al, 2020) others may offer opportunities to preserve or even bolster family functioning in the face of the pandemic (Orgilés et al, 2020). Emerging research from around the world documents the impact of the COVID-19 and previous epidemics/pandemics on families in terms of economic and resource loss, work-related stress, isolation and separation, illness and exposure concerns, caregiving burdens, and schooling needs for children (Ammar et al, 2020;Brooks et al, 2020;Brown et al,, 2020;Craig & Churchill, 2020;Del Boca et al, 2020;Garcia de Avila et al, 2020;Hawryluck et al, 2004;Orgilés et al, 2020;Saurabh & Ranjan, 2020;Segre et al, 2020).…”

Couple satisfaction and impact of confinement by COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico

“…Evidencia de esto es el trabajo de Zambrano, Serrato y Galindo (en prensa), quienes realizaron un análisis bibliométrico en la base de datos de SCO-PUS en la colección de psicología, identificando 223 artículos publicados en el primer semestre de 2020, encontrando que la mayoría de los estudios fueron realizados en China y están enfocados en ansiedad y depresión, por lo que sugieren que se realicen investigaciones enfocadas en los efectos de la pandemia en el desempeño académico, el estrés laboral, el desempeño laboral, la satisfacción marital, el comportamiento sexual, entro otros fenómenos. Así, son pocas las investigaciones enfocadas en las parejas en confinamiento, las cuales se han concentrado en el riesgo de violencia (Aponte et al, 2020), la división de trabajo doméstico (Carlson, Petts, & Pepin 2020;Chung et al, 2020), en los conflictos maritales (Chung, Chan, Lanier, & Wong, 2020), o en los efectos en conducta sexual (Arafat, Mohamed, Kar, Sharma, & Kabir, 2020); además se han publicado recomendaciones para estrategias terapéuticas que contribuyan a preservar y proteger las relaciones durante la contingencia (Stanley & Markman, 2020). Sin embargo, hasta donde es de nuestro conocimiento, no se han publicado investigaciones enfocadas en variables positivas de bienestar como la satisfacción marital y su relación con el impacto del confinamiento debido al COVID-19.…”