Relationships between work-family conflict and family structure in the lives of working mothers in Hungary - a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: The family, as the basic socialization environment, is a complex dynamic system that - as a whole and through its subsystems - is in relationships with other social systems (Bagdy in Family socialization and personality disorders. Nemzeti Tankönyvkiadó, Budapest, 2002; Lakatos et al. in Mentálhigiéné és Pszichoszomatika 21(1):56-85, 2020). The system with which the family system has long-term relationships is the work system/environment. Creating and maintaining a work-life balance has become a central issue in our societies, as they are two of the most organising forces, and reconciling them is a very difficult task due to the demands and expectations coming from both directions, often simultaneously (Makra et al. in Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle 67(3):491-518, 2012). This kind of "double burden" primarily affects women, but their increasing role in the labour market is not necessarily followed by an equal sharing of work within family life (Engler et al. in Work-life balance in women's careers. In: Tardos K, Paksi V, Fábri Gy (eds) Scientific careers in the early 21st century. Belvedere Meridionale, Szeged, pp 114-126, 2021). We hypothesise that involvement in work negatively correlates with work-life balance, making it more difficult to integrate into the family. It was expected that the relationship between the number of children and mothers' professional involvement would be negative. A positive correlation was expected between the age of the youngest child and the mothers' work involvement. On the other hand, a family united by cohesion and resilience leads to higher job satisfaction. METHODS: For the present analysis, we analysed the relationships between work-family conflict and family structure in working mothers with children in a sample of 273 participants. The self-reported questionnaire included demographic data and 2 standard questionnaires: the Work-Family Conflict Questionnaire and the Olson-Family Test (FACES-IV.). The study was conducted in Hungary. RESULTS: No significant relationship was found between work involvement and work-family conflict. A negative relationship was observed between work involvement and family involvement. Similiarily, no significant relationship was found between the number of children, the age of the youngest child and work involvement, contrary to expectations. The findings indicate a positive relationship between good family cohesion, flexibility and job satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Striking a work-family balance is a challenging process for families with young children, especially working mothers. A mutually negative relationship between work and family involvement has been shown. The importance of a well-functioning family, with adequate cohesion and flexibility, is reflected in family and job satisfaction. The relationship between work-to-family conflict and job involvement is moderated significantly only when family flexibility is low. The results from the present pilot study indicate important relationships between variables and point to further research directions worth investigating in a larger sample in the future.

Effects of Health Anxiety, Social Support, and Coping on Dissociation with Mediating Role of Perceived Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Our study aimed to examine whether health anxiety, social support, and ways of coping relate to dissociation directly or only through the mediation of perceived stress, moderated by the time of measurement (lockdown). We investigated the effect of perceived stress on different forms (sub-scales) of dissociation. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted by an online form at two points in time: the beginning and the later stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: We received a total of 1711 responses. Perceived stress moderately correlated with dissociation in both international and Hungarian samples. Health anxiety showed a strong direct and indirect correlation with dissociation. Regarding social support, the support of family significantly decreased the dissociative experiences in the Hungarian sample mediated by perceived and direct stress. In the international sample, goal-oriented coping strategies strongly decreased all dissociation scales in the first measurement, through the mediation of perceived stress. As for the Hungarian sample, positive thinking was found to decrease dissociation by decreasing perceived stress. CONCLUSION: health anxiety, coping, and social support appeared to influence dissociation directly and through the mediation of perceived stress. Social support, mainly support of the family and problem-focused coping strategies may decrease the level of stress, this way decreasing dissociative behavior.

[Connection between satisfaction with relationship-, life, well-being and the development of the family structure].

INTRODUCTION: The study is focusing on the relationships between several different, widely researched topics - such as satisfaction with relationship and life, well-being and the development of family structure - and examining them from different perspectives. In general, satisfaction with life, just as the subjective well-being displays high correlation with relationship satisfaction, which has effect on the development of the family structure as well. According to our assumption, those people who live in a happy and balanced relationship/marriage are happier and more satisfied with their lives. All of this is substantially influenced by one of the most important issues in people's lives/relationships, that is childbearing. This is also considerable for the development of life satisfaction and well-being. Moreover, a more balanced relationship is supposed to have a positive relationship with family cohesion, flexibility and communication within the family. METHOD: In the present study, we examined on our entire database the relationship between life satisfaction, well-being, relationship satisfaction and the possible changes in all of these relationships depending on the changes in the family structure. In our analysis, we also examined the effect of children's presence in the family in relation with relationship satisfaction. 192 people participated in the present study. RESULTS: According to the results, life satisfaction and the optimal communication within the family have a positive effect on relationship satisfaction. Satisfaction with family communication proved to be the strongest predictor. Despite our hypothesis, the number and age of children - more children and younger age - did not show a negative correlation with relatinship satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Not just during a crisis, under optimal circumstances, several factors affect relationship satisfaction, but the main influencing aspect is an optimal family structure. In a well-functioning family, the optimal level of communication has a positive effect on the development of the relationship, whereas disintegration and inadequate communication can lead to severe dysfunction both in terms of the relationship and the family unit. The results from the analysis show important conclusions and reveal new research directions, which should be examined in a larger sample in the future.