Work characteristics and parent-child relationship quality: the mediating role of temporal involvement

This study investigated whether the amount and nature of parent-child time mediated the association between parental work characteristics and parent-child relationship quality. We based hypotheses on the conflict and enrichment approaches, and we tested a path model using self-collected data on 1,008 Dutch fathers and 929 Dutch mothers with school-aged children. Longer working hours and less work engagement were associated with less parent-child time and longer working hours, more restrictive organizational norms, stress, flexibility, nonstandard hours (mothers only), and work engagement increased the disturbance of parent-child activities. Less and more disturbed parent-child activities were, in turn, associated with a lower parent-child relationship quality. In addition, work engagement and working hours had direct, beneficial effects on parent-child relationship quality.