Coping with work-family conflict: A leader-member exchange perspective.

Leader-member exchange (LMX) theory is applied as a framework for understanding coping with work-family conflict. The effectiveness of four work-family coping strategies (i.e., preventive and episodic forms of both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping) is considered with emphasis on how the LMX relationship contributes to each form of coping with work interference with family. The LMX-based model of work-family coping accounts for the development of family-friendly work roles, use of organizational family-friendly policies, and the negotiation of flextime and flexplace accommodations. Constraints on the relationship between LMX and work-family coping associated with supervisor authority and resources and aspects of the organizational context are also discussed. Research and applied implications of the model are offered.