Time-based conflict and trade-offs: Work-family-school conflict and health behaviors

Individuals face many barriers to healthy behaviors, including a lack of time. Some research finds that individuals “borrow” from time that could be spent on health to “pay” for demands in other domains of their lives. This study aims to further explore these trade-offs as they are motivated by a broader set of life domains (assessing conflict across work, family, and school domains) and as they relate to participation in multiple health behaviors (examining sleep, diet, and exercise behaviors). This study also aims to provide insights that could reduce trade-offs, identifying individual and organizational characteristics that moderate the work-family-school conflict and health behavior relationship. Finally, we aim to better understand the decisional and motivational processes influencing trade-offs by examining the value placed on each health behavior. Seventy-three employed students completed a daily diary study assessing daily levels of work-family-school conflict and behaviors related to sleep, diet, and exercise. Multi-level modeling revealed a curvilinear relationship between work-family-school conflict and exercise and a negative linear relationship between work-family-school conflict and sleep. Proactive personality and time management moderated the work-family-school conflict and exercise relationship. Coping moderated the relationship between work-school-family conflict and daily time spent sleeping. Family supportive supervisor behaviors and workplace health climate moderated the relationship between work-family-school conflict and exercise. A latent profile analysis revealed differences in value placed on various health behaviors, and these value profiles moderated the relationship between work-family-school conflict and exercise. These results shed light on the trade-offs that may take place for busy individuals when time is scarce and provide insights that could be useful in promoting valuable health behaviors.