The mediating role of work-family conflict in the relationship between spousal support and parental burnout among working mothers

Balancing work and family life responsibilities is a significant challenge, especially for working mothers. Working mothers are exposed to the challenges of parenthood between their roles as employees and mothers. Support from the spouse plays an active role in coping with the work-family conflict and parental burnout experienced by working mothers. The purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of work-family conflict between spousal support and parental burnout in working mothers. The sample of the research consists of 663 working women between the ages of 24 and 49 who have at least 1 child under the age of 18. In the study using quantitative methodology, the Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFCS), Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) and Spousal Support Scale (SSS) were used. Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between the variables of the study, and regression analyzes were performed with the Process model to examine the mediating role of work-family conflict. According to the findings of the study, there is a negative relationship between spousal support and parental burnout. There is a negative relationship between spousal support and work-family conflict and a positive relationship between work-family conflict and parental burnout. Although there is no difference in the relationship between spousal support types and parental burnout. Family-work conflict (FWC), one of the sub-dimensions of work-family conflict, has a higher impact on parental burnout than work-family conflict (WFC). Likewise, a stronger relationship was found between spousal support and FWC compared to WFC. Work-family conflict plays a partial mediator role in the relationship between spousal support and parental burnout. FWC's mediating role was stronger than WFC's. It is thought that the current research will be a guide in understanding how effective support sources regulate parental burnout experienced by working mothers,.and developing new strategies specifically for these difficulties.