Balancing employment and fatherhood - A systems perspective

Fathers in dual-earner families (N = 447) participated in three studies. The first two studies were designed to devise a brief measure of stress experienced by employed men in dual-earner families. The resulting Workplace/Family Stress Scale was found to be a reliable and valid measure of this construct. An ecological systems framework was utilized for study design and analyses in the third study. This study explored contributions from various system levels to the work/family stress dynamic. Results indicated that all system levels examined (the individual, the family microsystem, and the workplace microsystem) contributed to experienced stress, with the greatest contribution coming from the family microsystem. Implications of these findings for fathers involved in multiple roles and for their families are discussed.