<p>People use a variety of coping strategies during crises, drawing on longstanding approaches and, at times, adopting new tactics in response to specific challenges. Using data from a two-wave sample of U.S. workers (<i>N</i> = 226) collected during COVID-19, we identify common strategy themes across work and family domains and examine how reported use of these strategies is associated with work and family conflict, performance, and general health at Time 2 after adjusting for Time 1 baselines. We close by drawing implications for today’s workplaces where COVID-19 is largely endemic and flexible arrangements are common. Drawing upon work-family spillover perspectives and the coping literature, the present study uses an inductive qualitative approach to investigate different coping strategies that workers utilize in response to work-related demands and family-related demands during COVID-19, as well as a quantitative examination of these different coping strategies with respect to work, family, and health outcomes. Thematic analysis findings suggest that employees draw on common strategy themes to address both work-related and family-related demands (e.g., managing physical health, sharing the workload), as well as distinct work-related and family-related strategies, such as finding developmental opportunities for work and strategies for coping with heightened childcare demands for family. Additionally, we identify a context-specific theme (taking safety precautions) alongside broader themes that generalize beyond COVID-19. Empirical findings indicate that work task-oriented coping was associated with lower work-to-family conflict and higher job performance; connecting with others was associated with lower family-to-work conflict and higher family performance, and boundary management was associated with higher job performance and better general health. Theoretical and practical implications for coping with concurrent work and family demands during times of crisis are discussed.</p>

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Managing Work and Family Demands during Times of Crisis: A Mixed Methods Examination with Evidence from COVID-19

  • Jesse S. Michel,
  • Gargi Sawhney,
  • Nicole V. Shifrin,
  • Michael A. Rotch,
  • Austin R. Cunningham

摘要

People use a variety of coping strategies during crises, drawing on longstanding approaches and, at times, adopting new tactics in response to specific challenges. Using data from a two-wave sample of U.S. workers (N = 226) collected during COVID-19, we identify common strategy themes across work and family domains and examine how reported use of these strategies is associated with work and family conflict, performance, and general health at Time 2 after adjusting for Time 1 baselines. We close by drawing implications for today’s workplaces where COVID-19 is largely endemic and flexible arrangements are common. Drawing upon work-family spillover perspectives and the coping literature, the present study uses an inductive qualitative approach to investigate different coping strategies that workers utilize in response to work-related demands and family-related demands during COVID-19, as well as a quantitative examination of these different coping strategies with respect to work, family, and health outcomes. Thematic analysis findings suggest that employees draw on common strategy themes to address both work-related and family-related demands (e.g., managing physical health, sharing the workload), as well as distinct work-related and family-related strategies, such as finding developmental opportunities for work and strategies for coping with heightened childcare demands for family. Additionally, we identify a context-specific theme (taking safety precautions) alongside broader themes that generalize beyond COVID-19. Empirical findings indicate that work task-oriented coping was associated with lower work-to-family conflict and higher job performance; connecting with others was associated with lower family-to-work conflict and higher family performance, and boundary management was associated with higher job performance and better general health. Theoretical and practical implications for coping with concurrent work and family demands during times of crisis are discussed.