Work-Family Conflict and Well-being Among Married Couples Revisited: A Longitudinal and Dyadic Approach

Deniz Yucel , William Paterson University
Wen Fan, Boston College

We examine whether changes in work-family conflict predict changes in one’s own (i.e., actor effects) or their partners’ (i.e., partner effects) health and well-being among dual-earner married couples, as well as gender differences in these relationships. We draw on data collected from 805 married dual-earner couples in waves 6 and 8 of the nationally representative German Family Panel survey. We use actor-partner interdependence models to examine how changes in one’s work-to-family and family-to-work conflict affect changes in their own and their partners’ life satisfaction, mental health, and self-reported physical health. We found (1) significant actor effects for all outcomes and stronger actor effects among men than women on mental health; (2) significant partner effects for life satisfaction and mental health, and stronger partner effects among men than women on life satisfaction; (3) stronger actor effects than corresponding partner effects for life satisfaction and mental health.

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 Presented in Session 159. Family-Level Perspectives on Work and Care