https://aub.ie/MilitaryREACH-Wong2022

Wong, J. R., Crain, T. L., Brossoit, R. M., Hammer, L. B., Bodner, T. E., & Brady, J. M. (2022). Beyond just resilience: The important role of work-family resources for military service members. Occupational Health Sciences, 6, 425-450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-022-00111-1

For military families faced with work-family stressors, individual and organizational resources (e.g., supervisor support, family-friendly work policies) have been associated with positive work-family outcomes. Data from 417 full-time National Guard Soldiers from 10 workgroups were used to examine how resilience, family-supportive supervisor behavior, and perceptions of a positive work-family climate (i.e., work environment that respects family) were related to work and family conflict and enrichment (i.e., work-to-family conflict, family-to-work conflict, work-to-family enrichment, and family-to-work enrichment). Overall, Soldiers with more individual (e.g., resilience) and organizational resources (e.g., perceptions of positive work-family climate) reported better work-family outcomes (i.e., less conflict, more enrichment).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41542-022-00111-1

Couples
Parents
Mental health

Army

Guard

Guard/Reserve member

Young adulthood (18 - 29 yrs)
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Thirties (30 - 39 yrs)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)

Cross-Sectional Study
Quantitative Study

Wong, Jacqueline R., Crain, Tori L., Brossoit, Rebecca M., Hammer, Leslie B., Bodner, Todd E., Brady, Jacquelyn M.

The military has allocated extensive resources to improve service member resilience in an effort to decrease the impact of stressors on health and well-being. Previous research has linked resilience to various positive outcomes (e.g., physical and mental health, job satisfaction) and has established that service members face unique and challenging work-family experiences. However, the importance of resilience to work-family experiences remains underexplored. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, this study examines the relationships between resilience (i.e., the ability to bounce back from stressors) and work-family outcomes, and whether organizational work-family resources of work-family climate perceptions and family-supportive supervisor behavior moderate these relationships. Based on a sample of 417 Army National Guard service members from 10 workgroups, and using a multilevel path model, we found that more resilient service members experience lower family-to-work conflict and greater work-to-family enrichment. Further, the relationship between resilience and family-to-work enrichment was significant and stronger for service members who perceive their work climate as family-supportive compared to the relationship for those who do not. Improving resilience in military personnel may help to facilitate positive work-family experiences, but resilience is likely most beneficial when organizational work-family resources (i.e., a family-supportive work climate) are also available.

Springer

Article
REACH Publication

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