# Work-family conflict and self-rated health trajectories among ELSA-Brasil workers: the moderating role of education

## TL;DR

The study finds that work-family conflict and lack of time for self-care are linked to worse health outcomes, with education playing a modifying role in women.

## Contribution

This study longitudinally examines how education modifies the relationship between work-family conflict and health trajectories, focusing on sex differences.

## Key findings

- Work-family and family-work conflicts are associated with worse self-rated health in both genders.
- Education modifies the health impact of lack of time for self-care among women.
- Highly educated women with frequent time constraints report worse health trajectories than less educated women.

## Abstract

Studies on the association between work-family conflict and self-reported
health are mostly cross-sectional; few studies have investigated the effect
of education on this association.

To investigate association between work-family conflict, family-work
conflict, lack of time for self-care and leisure due to family and work
demands, and self-rated health trajectories, examining sex differences and
the modifying effect of education on these associations.

Data from active workers (women = 4,283; men = 3,851) from the three waves
and annual follow-up (2008-2020) of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health
were analyzed using multinomial logistic models.

Work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and lack of time were associated
with worse self-rated health trajectories in both sexes. However, among
women who reported a lack of time for self-care and leisure, education was a
modifying factor. The odds of a fair or poor self-reported health trajectory
were higher among women with a high education level who reported a lack of
time “sometimes” or “often” than in women with a low education level.

Work-family conflict dimensions were associated with worse self-reported
health trajectories among both women and men. Education only modified this
effect among women.