The Impact of Perceived Organizational Support On the Relationship Between Work-Family Conflict and Psychological Well-Being Among Public Child Welfare Workers

Purpose: The health of employed American workers has deteriorated over the past decades. One in three employees experience one or more symptoms of clinical depression and many workers experience sleep problems (Aumann & Galinsky, 2008). A sharp downturn in the global economy forces employees to assume more work responsibilities and to do a better job in less time (Im, 2009). Public employees may experience conflicts from both work and family domains due to a lack of flexibility, work overload, low job autonomy, low levels of supervisory and organizational supports, and cultures that idealize workaholism. The pressures related to work-family conflict may hinder psychological well-being among public employees. However, very few studies examine the role of perceived organizational support in buffering the negative effects of work-family conflict on well-being. The present study aims to examine the potential of one such organizational factor, perceived organizational support (POS), to both directly enhance employee well-being and attenuate the negative relationship between work-family conflict and well-being.

Method: Using the data from a longitudinal study on supervision and workforce retention in child welfare, 133 employees participated in the study. 83.1% were women and 16.9% were men. The mean age was 39.7 ranging from 23 to 67 years. The mean tenure was 7.72 years. The sample included 38.8% Caucasians, 29.5% Latinos, 14.7% African-Americans, 13.8% Asian-Americans, and 3.2% other. More than half (55%) the participants were married and 76.2% had a master's degree. Most (74.2%) were direct service providers. A hierarchical regression model was conducted for analysis.

Results: The results of the multiple regression analysis indicate that work-family conflict is significantly and negatively related to well-being (Β = -.013, p = .001) and perceived organizational support is significantly and positively related to well-being (Β = .004, p = .048). Two variables, work-family conflict and perceived organizational support, accounted for a combined 11% of the variance in well-being (F (2,127) = 8.165, p = .000). In the full model (adding the work-family conflict x perceived organizational support interaction term to the previous model), the main effects for work-family conflict (Β= -.013, p = .001) and perceived organizational support (Β= .004, p = .037) remained significant while a buffering effect was seen for perceived organizational support (Β = .001, p = .006).

Conclusions and Implications: The findings of the study show that perceived organizational support attenuates the negative effects of the relationship between work-family conflict and well-being. The study also highlights the importance of support provided by managers and immediate supervisors in human service organizations in creating a family-friendly environment and culture where employees are guided and encouraged to move in and out of a variety of informal working arrangements and specific work-family programs (e.g., flexibility) s, without penalty to their jobs or standing in the organizations.