The psychological availability of dual-earner parents for their children after work

Abstract

Using data from a sample of Dutch dual-earner parents (N=261), this study showed that parents' psychological availability acted as a link between negative and positive workday residuals (i.e., work-related negative mood, exhaustion, rumination, and work-related positive mood and vigor) and the quality of parent-child interactions after the workday. Parents' preference for type of role combination moderated these relationships in that evidence for negative spillover was found only for parents who tended to integrate work and family life, whereas positive spillover was found only for parents who tended to segment work and family life. These findings suggest that workday residuals combined with parents' boundary management strategies have important implications for the parent-child relationship.