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Managing Multiple Roles: Development of the Work-Family Conciliation Strategies Scale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2014

Marisa Matias  and
Anne Marie Fontaine
Marisa Matias*
Affiliation:
Universidade do Porto (Portugal)
Anne Marie Fontaine
Affiliation:
Universidade do Porto (Portugal)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Marisa Matias. Centro de Psicologia Diferencial. Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação. Universidade do Porto (Portugal). E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Juggling the demands of work and family is becoming increasingly difficult in today's world. As dual-earners are now a majority and men and women's roles in both the workplace and at home have changed, questions have been raised regarding how individuals and couples can balance family and work. Nevertheless, research addressing work-family conciliation strategies is limited to a conflict-driven approach and context-specific instruments are scarce. This study develops an instrument for assessing how dual-earners manage their multiple roles detaching from a conflict point of view highlighting the work-family conciliation strategies put forward by these couples. Through qualitative and quantitative procedures the Work-Family Conciliation Strategies Scales was developed and is composed by 5 factors: Couple Coping; Positive Attitude Towards Multiple Roles, Planning and Management Skills, Professional Adjustments and Institutional Support; with good adjustment [χ2/df = 1.22; CFI = .90, RMSEA = .04, SRMR = .08.] and good reliability coefficients [from .67 to .87]. The developed scale contributes to research because of its specificity to the work-family framework and its focus on the proactive nature of balancing work and family roles. The results support further use of this instrument.

Keywords

work-family copingmanaging rolesinstrument developmentwork-family interface
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 17 , 2014 , E56
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2014 

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