Guangsong Dai, Lanxia Zhang, Adam A Kay, Yiqiong Li, Mengyu Mao, Qingqiang Zhang
{"title":"Family intergenerational stress: Concept exploration and development via coping and identity management.","authors":"Guangsong Dai, Lanxia Zhang, Adam A Kay, Yiqiong Li, Mengyu Mao, Qingqiang Zhang","doi":"10.1037/ocp0000388","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The sandwich generation faces dual responsibilities of supporting parents and raising children, resulting in heightened levels of stress and negative work-related outcomes. Despite a wealth of research on the sandwich generation, few studies have examined the specific nature of the multigenerational needs of the sandwich generation. Accordingly, we introduce a new concept termed family intergenerational stress (FIS), which refers to the interaction and integration of stresses from elder caregiving, child-rearing, and associated challenges with self-definition. Through the lens of FIS, we collected interview data from 137 sandwich generation employees, secondary network data, and field observation data from 21 employees. We further used grounded theory to explore employees' stress and coping responses to dual family responsibilities. Findings indicate that employees with both elder caregiving and child-rearing responsibilities experience FIS. This, in turn, threatens their identity as an ideal worker and is associated with lower work engagement. Findings further reveal that in coping with FIS, employees adopt different identity-based strategies. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48339,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Occupational Health Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000388","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/8/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, APPLIED","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The sandwich generation faces dual responsibilities of supporting parents and raising children, resulting in heightened levels of stress and negative work-related outcomes. Despite a wealth of research on the sandwich generation, few studies have examined the specific nature of the multigenerational needs of the sandwich generation. Accordingly, we introduce a new concept termed family intergenerational stress (FIS), which refers to the interaction and integration of stresses from elder caregiving, child-rearing, and associated challenges with self-definition. Through the lens of FIS, we collected interview data from 137 sandwich generation employees, secondary network data, and field observation data from 21 employees. We further used grounded theory to explore employees' stress and coping responses to dual family responsibilities. Findings indicate that employees with both elder caregiving and child-rearing responsibilities experience FIS. This, in turn, threatens their identity as an ideal worker and is associated with lower work engagement. Findings further reveal that in coping with FIS, employees adopt different identity-based strategies. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Journal of Occupational Health Psychology offers research, theory, and public policy articles in occupational health psychology, an interdisciplinary field representing a broad range of backgrounds, interests, and specializations. Occupational health psychology concerns the application of psychology to improving the quality of work life and to protecting and promoting the safety, health, and well-being of workers. This journal focuses on the work environment, the individual, and the work-family interface.