Work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and facilitation across the career developmental stages

Issues of work-family and work-life balance have received extensive discussion and have been subject to increasing investigation over the past two decades (Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). Demographic and social changes appear to influence the increased interest in work-life balance. Some research has indicated that many working adults want to balance work and family (Byron, 2005; Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinkley, 2005). As such, this study examined the impact of career stage, gender, and the presence of children on work-family conflict and work-family facilitation to more clearly understand the work-family interface. Participants completed an on-line survey in which they answered questions assessing for career concerns, work-family conflict, and work-family facilitation. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to test the research questions in this study. Results of this investigation indicated that career stage, gender, and the interaction between career stage and children had an impact on the work-family phenomenon. The theoretical and clinical implications of these findings were discussed.