Not Just Work-to-Family Conflict, But How you React to It Matters for Physical and Mental Health.

Individuals with higher work-to-family conflict (WTFC) in general are more likely to report poorer physical and mental health. Less research, however, has examined the daily implications of WTFC, such as whether individuals' reactions to minor WTFC day-to-day (e.g., missing family dinner due to work obligation) are associated with health outcomes. We examined whether affective reactivity to daily WTFC was associated with poorer sleep, health behaviors, and mental health in a sample who may be particularly vulnerable to daily WTFC. Employed parents in the IT industry with adolescent-aged children (N = 118, M age = 45.01, 44.07 % female) reported daily WTFC and negative affect on 8 consecutive days, in addition to completing a survey that assessed sleep, health behaviors (smoking, drinking, exercise, fast food consumption), and psychological distress. Multilevel modeling outputted individual reactivity slopes by regressing daily negative affect on the day's WTFC. Results of general linear models indicated that affective reactivity to WTFC was associated with poorer sleep quality and higher levels of psychological distress - even when controlling for average daily negative affect on non-WTFC days. Individual differences in reactivity to daily WTFC have implications for health. Interventions aimed to reduce daily WTFC and reactivity to it are needed.

Symptoms improve after a yoga program designed for PTSD in a randomized controlled trial with veterans and civilians.

OBJECTIVE: Although yoga shows promise as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), there are few randomized controlled trials that demonstrate significant benefits for individuals with PTSD. The present study addresses this need by comparing the effects of a holistic yoga program (HYP) to that of a wellness lifestyle program (WLP) on PTSD symptom severity with a randomized clinical trial. METHOD: The sample consisted of 209 participants (91.4% veterans; 66% male; 61.7% White) who met diagnostic criteria for PTSD at baseline. Participants were randomly assigned to attend one of the 2 weekly interventions for 16 weeks. The HYP consisted of yoga instruction, while the WLP consisted of didactics, discussions, and walking. PTSD severity was measured using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5) and the PTSD Checklist (PCL-5). RESULTS: Analyses revealed that the HYP reduced PTSD severity measured by the CAPS-5 significantly more than the WLP at treatment end (mean difference = -5.4, effect size = 0.46, p < .001), but not at 7-month follow up (mean difference = -0.9, p = .603). Similarly, the HYP reduced PTSD severity measured by the PCL-5 significantly more than the WLP at treatment end (difference = -6.0, p = .001), but not at 7-month follow up (mean difference = -1.0, p = .682). CONCLUSION: Yoga may be an effective intervention for PTSD in addition to standard treatments. Future yoga trials should consider adding a social component to interventions or booster classes to maintain effects long term. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).