Determinants of work-family balance satisfaction during the pandemic: Insights from Québec.

The first wave of the COVID pandemic was the most challenging for employed parents, and more specifically for women. In Québec, research has shown a deterioration in the psychological health of parents in the early weeks of the pandemic. In this research, we investigate how Québec parents who remained employed during the lockdown in 2020 perceived their work-family balance in the stressful context of new earning and caregiving constraints, drawing on survey data collected in May 2020. Our approach integrates insights from psychological, managerial and sociological literatures. We find that most parents who remained employed found their work-family balance "easy" in the first months of the pandemic, but women felt less satisfied with their work-family balance than men as well as those whose employers were less understanding and supportive, and those whose workloads increased. The implications of these results are discussed in the light of previous studies on work-family intersections, to show that gender continues to matter when family members are faced with extraordinary circumstances such as the closing of childcare and schools, even in the egalitarian context of Québec, where fathers are perceived as legitimate caregivers.

La première vague de la pandémie de COVID a été la plus difficile pour les employés avec des enfants, et plus particulièrement pour les femmes. Au Québec, la recherche a révélé une détérioration de la santé psychologique des parents au Québec dans les premières semaines de la pandémie. Dans cette recherche, nous examinons la manière dont les parents québécois demeurés en emploi pendant le confinement en 2020 ont perçu leur conciliation emploi-famille dans le contexte stressant de nouvelles contraintes en matière de revenus et de prestation de soins, en nous appuyant sur les données d'enquête recueillies en mai 2020. Notre approche intègre des notions issues de la littérature en gestion, en psychologie et en sociologie. Nos résultats montrent que la plupart des parents qui ont conservé leur emploi ont perçu leur conciliation emploi-famille comme étant « facile ¼ au cours des premiers mois de la pandémie, mais que les femmes se sont senties moins satisfaites de leur conciliation emploi-famille que les hommes, ainsi que ceux dont les employeurs ont été moins compréhensifs et moins coopératifs, et ceux dont la charge de travail a augmenté. Les implications de ces résultats sont discutées à la lumière d'études antérieures sur les intersections emploi-famille, pour montrer que le genre continue d'avoir de l'importance lorsque les membres de la famille sont confrontés à des circonstances extraordinaires telles que la fermeture des services de garde et des écoles, même dans le contexte égalitaire du Québec, où les pères sont perçus comme des dispensateurs de soins légitimes.

Work-life balance and professional quality of life among nurse faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The rapid transition to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic created additional stress and workload issues for nurse faculty. Burnout has been reported in nurse faculty who cite workplace factors that influence satisfaction and work-life balance as major contributing factors. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine life balance and professional quality of life among nurse faculty (N = 216) in 2021 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and to describe the challenges of delivering virtual learning experiences. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was utilized to survey nurse faculty using the Life Balance Inventory and the Professional Quality of Life Scale. Descriptive statistics and correlations were calculated. RESULTS: Nurse faculty reported an unbalanced life balance (median = 1.76), average compassion satisfaction (median = 40.00), average burnout (median = 24.00), and low secondary traumatic stress (median = 21.00). Narrative themes included (1) COVID-19 pandemic has made balance nearly impossible, (2) Intentional disconnection from work activities, (3) Challenging/changing priorities, (4) Promoting a healthy work environment, and (5) Moral distress and exhaustion. DISCUSSION: Understanding the factors that influence nurse faculty delivery of virtual learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic may provide opportunities to improve nurse faculty work-life balance and professional quality of life.

Improving work life balance among female educationists during the COVID-19 lockdown.

BACKGROUND: The entire education industry switched from offline to online modes as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Numerous teachers who were diagnosed with musculoskeletal, psychological, and other neurodegenerative diseases have reported increased exhaustion, lack of sleep, a decline in quality of life (QoL), a decrease in physical activity, and excessive stress from online classes during the COVID-19 lockdown, especially women. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of three-modal exercise on fatigue, sleep, QoL as well as to determine the relationship between age, disease severity, disease stage and working years with women diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: In this randomized controlled trial, 44 female educators in stages I-II with PD who were between the ages of 40 and 60 volunteered. For a total of 36 sessions over the course of six weeks, Group A received a three-modal fitness program through online video sessions, whereas Group B received Nordic walking. The outcome measures included the Fatigue Severity Scale, Parkinson's Disease Sleep Scale, and Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire-39. RESULTS: Age, Hoehn and Yahr scale, working years, and PD in years did not correlate with each other (p > 0.50). The three-modal exercise experimental Group A showed statistically significant improvement in QoL (p 0.001), sleep (p 0.001), and fatigue (p 0.001). CONCLUSION: Women in the field of education who participated in a three-modal exercise programme for PD reported a significant improvement in their level of exhaustion, sleep patterns, and quality of life.

Negative Impact of Telework, Job Insecurity, and Work-Life Conflict on Employee Behaviour.

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a large-scale adoption of teleworking in various fields, accepted by many employers as the ideal solution to protect their employees against the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Working from home generated substantial savings for organisations and also contributed to alleviating employee stress. In addition to the potential positive effects, telework during COVID-19 favoured counterproductive behaviour, job insecurity, and intention to retire because of the negative outcomes generated by the growing conflict between personal life and working from home and professional and social isolation. The purpose of this research is to define and analyse a conceptual model capable of highlighting the way in which telework, job insecurity, and work-life conflict led to professional isolation and turnover intention, and finally, to the counterproductive behaviour of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was implemented using employees in Romania, an emerging European economy severely affected by the recent pandemic. The results have been analysed with the help of structural equations in SmartPLS, thus reflecting a significant influence of teleworking on work-life conflict, professional isolation, intentions, and insecurity during the pandemic. The insecurity of employees trained in teleworking contributes significantly to enhancing work-life conflict and professional isolation.

Work-Life Balance and Mental and Physical Health among Warsaw Specialists, Managers and Entrepreneurs.

Many studies have shown that low work-life balance (WLB) can be harmful to health. Poland is a country with one of the lowest indicators on the WLB scale among European countries but there are only a few studies about the connection between WLB and health. The present analysis aimed to answer the questions of whether the lower WLB among Warsaw's middle class correlates with poorer mental and physical health, and what life orientations and values typical of the middle class are related to work-life balance. Two surveys were conducted in the years 2003 and 2013 on the quota samples of 500 members of the Warsaw middle class: specialists, managers, and entrepreneurs. The current analysis has indicated the connection between a lower level of WLB and worse mental and physical health. Some middle-class life orientations are connected with a high WLB. The relationship between WLB and health was stronger in 2013 than in 2003. It can be considered a result of mentality and lifestyle changes and generational renewal. The study should be repeated in 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic as the work situation of the middle class may have changed.

Relationships and resilience at work and at home: Impact of relational coordination on clinician work-life balance and well-being in times of crisis.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unusually comprehensive crisis that has taken a toll on people in their roles both at work and at home, giving rise to a new normal. PURPOSE: Relational coordination theory shows how communicating and relating for the purpose of task integration drives positive outcomes for workers, their clients, and their employers. The ecological theory of work-family spillover shows how relational dynamics from work spillover into family life, and vice versa. We build upon these two theories to understand how relationships at work impact work-life balance and worker well-being, especially in times of crisis. METHODOLOGY: This study was based on surveys of clinicians affiliated with a large California health system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mediation and multilevel logistic regression models were used to assess how relational coordination among colleagues impacts well-being (job satisfaction and lack of burnout) through its effects on work-life balance (schedule control and personal time). RESULTS: A 1-point increase in relational coordination tripled clinician odds of having schedule control ( OR = 3.33, p < .001) and nearly doubled the odds of having adequate personal time ( OR = 1.83, p < .001). A 1-point increase in relational coordination nearly quadrupled odds of being satisfied with their job ( OR = 3.92, p < .001) and decreased odds of burnout by 64% ( OR = 0.36, p < .001). The impact of relational coordination on worker well-being was mediated by greater schedule control and personal time. CONCLUSION: Relational coordination among colleagues impacts worker well-being by enabling greater control over one's schedule and more personal time, thus creating a positive spillover from work to home in times of crisis. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: In times of crisis, leaders should prioritize relational coordination among colleagues in order to support their resilience both at work and at home.

Prediction models for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on research activities of Japanese nursing researchers using deep learning.

AIM: This study aimed to construct and evaluate prediction models using deep learning to explore the impact of attributes and lifestyle factors on research activities of nursing researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A secondary data analysis was conducted from a cross-sectional online survey by the Japanese Society of Nursing Science at the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 1089 respondents from nursing faculties were divided into a training dataset and a test dataset. We constructed two prediction models with the training dataset using artificial intelligence (AI) predictive analysis tools; motivation and time were used as predictor items for negative impact on research activities. Predictive factors were attributes, lifestyle, and predictor items for each other. The models' accuracy and internal validity were evaluated using an ordinal logistic regression analysis to assess goodness-of-fit; the test dataset was used to assess external validity. Predicted contributions by each factor were also calculated. RESULTS: The models' accuracy and goodness-of-fit were good. The prediction contribution analysis showed that no increase in research motivation and lack of increase in research time strongly influenced each other. Other factors that negatively influenced research motivation and research time were residing outside the special alert area and lecturer position and living with partner/spouse and associate professor position, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Deep learning is a research method enabling early prediction of unexpected events, suggesting new applicability in nursing science. To continue research activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and future contingencies, the research environment needs to be improved, workload corrected by position, and considered in terms of work-life balance.

Changes in Physician Work Hours and Implications for Workforce Capacity and Work-Life Balance, 2001-2021.

Importance: Physician work hours are an underexplored facet of the physician workforce that can inform policy for the rapidly changing health care labor market. Objective: To examine trends in individual physician work hours and their contribution to clinical workforce changes over a 20-year period. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study focused on active US physicians between January 2001 and December 2021 who were included in the Current Population Survey. Outcomes for physicians, advanced practice professionals (APPs), and nonphysician holders of doctoral degrees were compared, and generalized linear models were used to estimate differences in time trends for weekly work hours across subgroups. Main Outcomes and Measures: Physician and APP workforce size, defined as the number of active clinicians, 3-year moving averages of weekly work hours by individual physicians, and weekly hours contributed by the physician and APP workforce per 100 000 US residents. Results: A total of 87 297 monthly surveys of physicians from 17 599 unique households were included in the analysis. The number of active physicians grew 32.9% from 2001 to 2021, peaking in 2019 at 989 684, then falling 6.7% to 923 419 by 2021, with disproportionate loss of physicians in rural areas. Average weekly work hours for individual physicians declined by 7.6% (95% CI, -9.1% to -6.1%), from 52.6 to 48.6 hours per week from 2001 to 2021. The downward trend was driven by decreasing hours among male physicians, particularly fathers (11.9% decline in work hours), rural physicians (-9.7%), and physicians aged 45 to 54 years (-9.8%). Physician mothers were the only examined subgroup to experience a statistically significant increase in work hours (3.0%). Total weekly hours contributed by the physician workforce per 10 000 US residents increased by 7.0%, from 13 006 hours in 2001 to 2003 to 13 920 hours in 2019 to 2021, compared with 16.6% growth in the US population over that time period. Weekly hours contributed by the APP workforce per 100 000 US residents grew 71.2% from 2010 through 2012 to 2019 through 2021. Conclusions and Relevance: This cross-sectional study showed that physician work hours consistently declined in the past 20 years, such that physician workforce hours per capita lagged behind US population growth. This trend was offset by rapid growth in hours contributed by the APP workforce. The gap in physician work hours between men and women narrowed considerably, with diverging potential implications for gender equity. Increasing physician retirement combined with a drop in active physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic may further slow growth in physician workforce hours per capita in the US.

The Relationship between Job Insecurity and Psychological Well-Being among Malaysian Precarious Workers: Work-Life Balance as a Mediator.

The emergence of coronavirus disease has impacted human lives, one of which is economic disruption. Many Malaysian organisations have devised various crisis-response techniques, such as downsizing, laying off, retrenching, and combining. As a result, the number of Malaysians working in precarious jobs, which are defined by unpredictable and uncertain situations, has indirectly increased, hence increasing job insecurity. Therefore, maintaining psychological health is essential to safeguarding the mental health of employees. In the current working landscape, job security and work-life balance have commonly been deemed necessary in contributing to well-being among employees. As a result, the purpose of this study was to examine how work-life balance influences the relationship between job insecurity and psychological well-being among Malaysian precarious workers. It also fills a gap in the research by explaining the causal association between job insecurity and psychological well-being among precarious workers, as previous well-being studies have largely focused on employees with secure jobs. There were 442 responders collected using purposive and snowball sampling methods, and they were requested to complete the Job Insecurity Scale (JIS), Work-Life Balance, and Well-Being Index Scale (WHO-5). Job instability was negatively connected with work-life balance and psychological well-being. On the other hand, work-life balance was found to be positively related to psychological well-being. This supports the notion that work-life balance is a significant mediator in the relationship between job insecurity and psychological well-being. These findings emphasise that Malaysian precarious workers with job security could enhance their psychological well-being by achieving work-life balance.

The effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on STEM faculty: Productivity and work-life balance.

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted STEM professionals in numerous ways, affecting research, teaching, publications, patents, and work-life balance. A survey was conducted to determine the changes approximately one year into the pandemic shutdown in USA. Results indicate that the quarantine, limitations, and restrictions led to decreased work productivity and increased stress, anxiety, and family obligations. There was a significant difference between male and female faculty experience with women reporting more child-care, schoolwork assistance, and care for elderly relatives.

The Mediating Role of Sense of Coherence and Striving for Work-Life Balance on Intention to Leave From Nurses' Burnout.

High turnover and understaffing are significant issues plaguing the healthcare system. Some of the leading reasons of turnover include child-bearing and -rearing, stress related to working, and health concerns. With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this problem of turnover worsened due to increased risk of infection and escalating workload. This study aimed to clarify and validate the effect of burnout on intention to leave among full-time nursing professionals and the structural relationship with sense of coherence (SOC) and striving for work-life balance (S-WLB). Secondary analyses of data obtained from a previous study was carried out; a hypothesized model was tested for goodness of fit and a final model was developed. Burnout directly affected intention to leave (P < .001). It also affected intention to leave through SOC and S-WLB (P < .01); SOC lessened the effect of burnout on S-WLB, therefore reducing its impact on intention to leave. Effective strategies need to be developed to improve the SOC and WLB of nurses to alleviate the effects of burnout and thus reduce the likelihood of turnover. Improving their ability to grasp and deal with emergencies and ambiguous situations, as well as providing emotional and tangible support can be other ways to retain nursing professionals.

Investigating the Impact of Occupational Technostress and Psychological Restorativeness of Natural Spaces on Work Engagement and Work-Life Balance Satisfaction.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated lockdowns and mandatory working from home, as well as restrictions on travel and recreation. As a result, many people have had to use their home as an office and have increased their use of Information Communications Technology (ICT) for work purposes. Nature and accessing natural spaces are known to be beneficial for human health and wellbeing, as a result of their restorative properties. Access to local outdoor spaces was permitted under restrictions, and use of such spaces increased during lockdown. This survey study investigated whether the perceived restorativeness of natural spaces and exposure to technostress predicted the levels of work engagement and work-life balance satisfaction (WLBS) during the period of COVID-19 restrictions adopted in 2020. Analyses conducted on a sample of 109 people employed in the UK revealed that technostress negatively impacted WLBS, whilst perceived psychological restorativeness positively predicted work engagement. The study highlights the benefits of having access to natural spaces to improve employees' work engagement and potentially negate the negative effects of technostress, particularly during a period of intensive working from home. The results contribute to the understanding of the linkages between restorativeness and work engagement, paving the way for synergies across these research fields.

Towards work-life balance or away? The impact of work from home factors on work-life balance among software engineers during Covid-19 pandemic.

The paradigm shifts of conventional office spaces for virtual workspaces which practiced Work from Home (WFH) due to Covid-19, created a serious change in the lifestyles of employees, due to the overlap of 'work' and 'life' domains in one's life. Since software engineers have a possibility of permanently adapting into WFH, the objective of this study is to unveil factors which would have a significant impact on the work-life balance of software engineers in Sri Lanka, while WFH. Only a very limited researches have shed light on this context, thereby this study would contribute to fill the empirical gap. The study undertook a quantitative approach by collecting primary data through a questionnaire from 384 participants, based on simple random sampling, and analyzing collected data based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), using Smart PLS 3.3.9 software. Study results revealed that 'supervisor's trust and support' and the 'individual workspace,' have a significant impact on work-life balance, while 'working conditions,' 'possibility to access the organization's networks' and 'number of children' have no such significant impact. Thereby the study infers that, sound support and trust extended by supervisors and a designated distraction-free workspace; as measures to demarcate the boundary of work and life. Distinctive findings of this study would primarily be fruitful for software engineers to dive into a balanced state of work and life not only during Covid-19 but in future too. Study findings will also contribute to software industry personnel and policymakers in Sri Lanka as well as other developing countries, to establish effective strategies in favor of software engineers who WFH. Further, considering IT industry's significant contribution towards Sri Lanka's economic growth amidst Covid-19, results of this study would be high-yielding to indirectly succor IT-services-supported economic growth amidst the pandemic-driven hardships in Sri Lanka.

What is behind the gender gap in economics distance education: Age, work-life balance and COVID-19.

There is an ongoing debate about whether gender equality in education has been achieved or not. Research efforts have focused on primary and secondary education, while there are fewer studies on higher education, and few studies refer to distance education. To contribute to address this gap, this article presents a gender analysis of educational outcomes in economics at Spain's leading distance university, UNED, which is also the largest university in the European Union in terms of enrolment. The aim of the article is to assess whether there is a gender gap in academic results and to identify the sociodemographic and academic variables that may be causing such a gap by analysing how they shape such differences. Finally, the impact of COVID-19 is also considered. The results confirm that women underperformed significantly in our sample in terms of passing and scoring, especially among those between 30 and 45 years of age, who are more likely to have young children. When considering a distribution of family tasks biased against women, along with the higher average age of distance learning university students, gender gaps could probably be greater in nonface-to-face education. COVID-19 narrowed the gender gap during the lockdown period, as some men and women staying at home together were able to improve task sharing capabilities. After the lockdown, however, women's results worsened compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. A possible explanation is that they had to continue performing the same family duties in addition to substituting education and caring services (e.g., nurseries and day centres for the elderly) that did not resume activity immediately or continuously.

Police officers' work-life balance, job satisfaction and quality of life: longitudinal effects after changing the shift schedule.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate mental health-related outcomes of police officers 5.5 years after implementing a new alternating shift schedule which was supposed to improve their health and work-life balance. DESIGN: Pre-post study design with a baseline survey at the beginning of the piloting of the new shift schedule in 2015 and another survey 5.5 years later in 2020. SETTING: Police departments of a German metropolitan police force piloting the new shift schedule. PARTICIPANTS: 116 shift-working police officers out of a population of 1673 police officers at the follow-up date. INTERVENTIONS: New shift schedule based on occupational health recommendations. OUTCOMES MEASURES: Work-life balance, job satisfaction and quality of life. METHODS: Mixed analyses of variances were used to test the hypotheses of within-subject and between-subject differences regarding time and gender. RESULTS: We found partly significant differences between the baseline and follow-up survey for work-life balance (F(1, 114) = 6.168, p=0.014, ηp² = 0.051), job satisfaction (F(1, 114) = 9.921, p=0.002, ηp² = 0.080) and quality of life (F(1, 114) = 0.593, p=0.443, ηp² = 0.005). Neither significant differences between male and female police officers nor interaction effects of time and gender were found. CONCLUSION: An increase was found for each of the three outcomes 5.5 years after implementing the new shift schedule. The results contribute to the current state of research on mental health-related outcomes of working conditions in shift work. On this basis, recommendations for designing shift schedules can be deduced to promote mental health and job satisfaction for employees in shift work.

Impact of Working From Home on Addressing Practitioner Burnout and Work-Life Balance in Mental Health.

While the demand for mental health services is growing, a practitioner shortage and high rates of burnout limit the capacity of the system to provide care. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a shift toward increased telehealth use, presenting an opportunity for mental health practitioners to adopt flexible workplace policies, such as working from home, that are more common in nonclinical environments. This article discusses the impact of working from home on practitioner burnout, satisfaction, and work-life balance, which may inform recruitment and retention strategies for health care organizations.

Work-Life Balance and Teleworking: Lessons Learned during the Pandemic on Gender Role Transformation and Self-Reported Well-Being.

Lockdown during COVID-19 forced the emergence of a new scenario, with men and women teleworkers spending all their time at home. The purpose of this study is to address whether this situation has triggered a transformation in gender roles and self-reported well-being, comparing the responses of male and female respondents to the EUROFOUND April to July 2020 survey. The analysis addresses cultural differences across European regions related to diverse gender regimes, employment status, and the possibility of teleworking. It explores male and female well-being through life satisfaction, the distance between happiness and life satisfaction, and rates their feelings about work-life balance. Findings on life satisfaction display a low transformation of social roles, with women still worrying about work-life balance, while men were more affected by the health crisis. Men self-report high life satisfaction across Europe compared to women, although unexpectedly, female freelancers in Northern and Southern European had a higher life satisfaction ratio than men. Both men and women teleworkers reported difficulties with managing work-life balance at home, despite women handling core care and household tasks. These findings suggest that women would have received more support from men, as they worked harder and longer hours during the lockdown, despite their weak position in the labor market. This would seem to be a propitious setting for men to have assumed more responsibility at home, resulting in a more equal distribution of roles at home.

When daily challenges become too much during COVID-19: Implications of family and work demands for work-life balance among parents of children with special needs.

Working parents of children with special needs (i.e., emotional, behavioral, and/or learning difficulties) face recurrent stressors that can make balancing work and family demands difficult. This strain has been magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic, as these parents often need to take on greater responsibility in supporting their children's remote learning, while still meeting their own job-related responsibilities. Accordingly, working parents of special needs children may be particularly vulnerable to adverse outcomes stemming from pandemic-induced changes to work (e.g., teleworking) and education (e.g., remote instruction). We sought to understand how daily family and work challenges influence satisfaction with work-life balance (WLB) in this priority population, with an emphasis on contextualizing this process through chronic job stress perceptions. Conducting a 10-day daily diary study in a sample of 47 working parents of special needs children during fall 2020, we observed family challenges to deplete positive affect from day-to-day, which undermined satisfaction with work-life balance. Furthermore, detrimental influences of daily family and work challenges on positive affect were magnified under chronic job stress, yielding diminished WLB satisfaction for more chronically stressed employees. We discuss how these findings can be harnessed to support particularly vulnerable employees during the COVID-19 pandemic and other chronic stress circumstances, while also drawing attention to how the pandemic may be exacerbating work-life inequities that some employees face. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Perspectives on academic mentorship, research collaborations, career advice and work-life balance: a masterclass conversation with Professor Salim Abdool Karim.

Mentorship and collaboration are fundamental to ensure success in research, particularly health research. In this article, we summarise a conversation between the Master's in Biostatistics students at Stellenbosch University and Professor Salim Abdool Karim, the head of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa. In May 2021, Professor Abdool Karim was invited to share some of his expertise and knowledge on successful mentorship and collaboration with researchers in the early stages of their careers. Passion, hard work and always trying one's best were some of the key values he highlighted as what a young researcher would need to succeed in today's world. In this candid and open discussion, Professor Abdool Karim provides valuable insight pertaining to the intricacies of a career in research, in terms of collaboration, mentorship and personal lessons drawn from his own life experience.