Hosokawa Rikuya, Katsura Toshiki
Department of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Faculty of Nursing, Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, Kyoto 629-0392, Japan.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 28;18(13):6924. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18136924.
The participation of women with young children in the Japanese labor force has increased dramatically in recent years, bringing growing potential for conflict between work and family roles amid inadequate social systems, such as childcare support. Thus, work-life balance (WLB) of mothers may influence their children's mental health and lifestyle. This study aims to clarify the relationship between parents' WLB and children's mental health, as well as the underlying factors of parental stress and nurturing attitude. The study is based on a questionnaire survey administered in 2019 to fifth-grade elementary school students and their caregivers in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. The regression results indicated that the higher the work-family negative spillover, the higher the child's externalizing and internalizing problems, and the higher the positive spillover, the lower the problems and the higher the prosocial behaviors. Path analysis indicates that maternal WLB is negatively and positively related to children's behavior through maternal stress and parenting practices. The study suggests that maternal WLB is related to children's emotional and behavioral problems. WLB may impact children's emotional and behavioral problems through parents' mental health and involvement with their children, particularly because of work arrangements changing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
近年来，有年幼子女的日本女性劳动力参与率急剧上升，在诸如儿童保育支持等社会体系不完善的情况下，工作与家庭角色之间产生冲突的可能性也日益增大。因此，母亲的工作与生活平衡（WLB）可能会影响孩子的心理健康和生活方式。本研究旨在阐明父母的工作与生活平衡与孩子心理健康之间的关系，以及父母压力和养育态度的潜在因素。该研究基于2019年对日本爱知县五年级小学生及其照顾者进行的问卷调查。回归结果表明，工作-家庭负面溢出越高，孩子的外化和内化问题就越高，而正面溢出越高，问题就越低，亲社会行为就越高。路径分析表明，母亲的工作与生活平衡通过母亲的压力和育儿方式与孩子的行为呈负相关和正相关。研究表明，母亲的工作与生活平衡与孩子的情绪和行为问题有关。工作与生活平衡可能通过父母的心理健康和与孩子的互动影响孩子的情绪和行为问题，特别是由于新冠疫情导致工作安排发生变化。
