Conference onWork, Family, Health, and Well-being

Washington, D.C. June 16 – 18, 2003.

The psychosocial work environment and

the associations with work-family conflict.

Tage S. Kristensen, Denmark.Lars Smith-Hansen, Denmark.

Nicole Jansen, The Netherlands.

Program:

1. A tool for the assessment and improvement of the psychosocial work environment: The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ)

2. The associations between psychosocial factors at work and work-family conflict (WFC).

3. Conclusions

The 3-level concept

Work environment professionals

Researchers

The workplaces

COPSOQThe three levels

Research questionnaire:

Questionnaire for work environment professionals:

Questionnaire for workplaces:

141 questions30 dimensions

95 questions26 dimensions

44 questions8 dimensions

Special features of the COPSOQ

Three levels of different length and complexity

National normative values

Five different kinds of job demands

Purposes of the 3-level concept

To develop valid instruments for use at different levels

To improve communication between researchers, work environment professionals, and the workplaces

To make national and international comparisons possible

To improve surveys of the work environment andevaluations of interventions

To make it easier to operationalize complicated theories and concepts

The philosophy of the three level concept

Empowerment of employees and workplaces

Improved quality of the work of work

environment professionals

Theory based interventions and assessments

Copenhagen Psychosocial

Questionnaire

Scale Number of questions: Research Middle Short questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire

Quantitative demands 7 4 3 Cognitive demands 8 4 Emotional demands 3 3 2 6 Demands for hiding emotions 2 2 1 Sensorial demands 5 4 Influence at work 10 4 3 Possibilities for development 7 4 2 Degrees of freedom at work 4 4 1 10 Meaning of work 3 3 2 Commitment to the workplace 4 4 2 Predictability 2 2 2 Role-clarity 4 4 Role-conflicts 4 4 Quality of leadership 8 4 2 10 Social support 4 4 2 Feedback at work 2 2 2 Social relations 2 2 Sense of community 3 3 2 Insecurity at work 4 4 4 Job satisfaction 7 4 4 General health 5 5 1 Mental health 5 5 5 Vitality 4 4 4 Behavioural stress 8 4 Somatic stress 7 4 Cognitive stress 4 4 Sense of coherence 9 Problem focused coping 2 Selective coping 2 Resigning coping 2 Number of questions 141 95 44 Number of scales 30 26 8 S

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The three types of psychosocial work environment dimensions

1. Demands

– Quantitative (working hours, work pace)

– Emotional demands

– Demands for hiding emotions

– Cognitive demands

– Sensory demands

The three types of psychosocial work environment dimensions

2. Organization and content of work

– Influence at work

– Possibilities for development

– Degrees of freedom

– Meaning of work

– Commitment to the workplace

The three types of psychosocial work environment dimensions

3. Interpersonal relations and leadership

– Social support– Feedback– Social relations– Role clarity– Role conflicts– Predictability– Quality of leadership– Sense of community

p<0.05; p<0.01; p<0.001

Multivariate associations:

Associations between psychosocial factors at work and WFC

in the COPSOQ database

General conflict

Energy conflict

Time conflict

Quantitative demands

Cognitive demands

Emotional demands

Demands for hiding emotions

Influence at work

Possibilities for development

Degrees of freedom at work

Meaning of work

Commitment to the workplace

Role-clarity

Quality of leadership

Sense of community

Familiysituation

Workingconditons

Work-familyconflict

Health &well-being

-fatigue-mental health

1

2

4

5

3

Basic model for work-family conflict

Family situation and WFC in the SARA Study

Family situation:Energy conflict

General conflict

Single 32% 9%

Couple without children 39% 14%

Couple with children, age 7+ 46% 21%

Couple with children, age 0-6 53% 32%

Single with children 52% 27%

Total 43% 19%

WFC

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Small Below average Above average Large

24%

37%

49%

65%

11%16%

22%

30%

Energy conflict

General conflict

%

Quantitative demands(quartiles)

Quantitative demands and WFC in the SARA Study

Family situation and psychological well-being in the SARA Study

40

50

60

70

80

0 0 7+years 0-6 years 1+

77.5 78.8 79.3 78.2

72.6

62.764.7 65.2

63.0

58.4

Points

1 2 2 2 1ChildrenAdult(s)

Mental health

Vitality

Family situation

40

50

60

70

80

Small Below average Above average Large

Points

81.4 79.577.4

73.7

68.665.4

62.0

57.8

Mental health

Vitality

Quantitativedemands

Quantitative demands and psychological well-being in the SARA Study

WFC and psychological well-being inthe SARA Study

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Never Rarely Occasionally Often

8480

7771

8376

61 59

7167 71

6868

61

5449

Mental health

Vitality

Men

Men

Women

Women

Points on scale from 0 to 100

General work-familyconflict

Men Women

Psychological job demands

Physical demands

Emotional demands

Shift work

Overtime

Influence at work

Ability to take a day off

Social support

Conflicts at work

Work roster known in advance

Prospective results on WFC from the Maastricht Cohort Study on ”Fatigue at Work”.

Significant predictors of WFC over one year of follow-up(N=12,095)

Feedback loop inthe Maastricht Cohort Study

Long working hours Work-Family Conflict

Work-Family Conflict Reduced working hours

(In particular among women)

Implications for gender differences and for study design.

Conclusions

In two Danish and one Dutch study of WFC all three types of psychosocial factors were strongly related to WFC.

Demands: In Particular quantitative and emotional demands.

Work structure & content: In particular influence at work.

Interpersonal relations and leadership.

Intervention studies aiming at reducing WFC should be guided by a comprehensive model of the psychosocial work environment.

Modern work: ”Work without limits”

Modern professional work tends to be ”work without limits”:

– No limits with regard to time– No limits with regard to space

In the balance between family and ”work without limits”, the family will lose. Work will invade the family sphere of life.

Only conscious and deliberate efforts related to psychosocial factors at work can prevent a drastic increase in Work-Family Conflict.

This presentation is available on www.ami.dk/presentations/

The

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