The differential impact of increasing and decreasing maternal work-family conflict on children's executive function difficulties in South Korea.

Although recent studies have examined the impacts of maternal work-family conflict (WFC) on child development, the cognitive domain remains underexplored. This study investigates the longitudinal relationship between maternal WFC and children's executive function (EF) difficulties in South Korea, wi...

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Published in:European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Vol. 34; no. 12; pp. 3923 - 3937
Main Authors: Son, Hyewon, Ahn, Eunhye, Kim, Jinho
Format: equations & formulas research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Springer Nature Dec2025
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Dec2025
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      pub: Springer Nature
      place: New York, New York
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        atl: The differential impact of increasing and decreasing maternal work-family conflict on children's executive function difficulties in South Korea.
      aug:
        au:
          Son, Hyewon
          Ahn, Eunhye
          Kim, Jinho
        affil: https://ror.org/047dqcg40 Department of Health Policy and Management, Korea University, Room 367, B-dong Hana-Science Building 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
      sug:
        subj:
          Mothers
          Work-Life Balance
          Family Conflict
          Mother-Child Relations
          Executive Function In Infancy and Childhood
          Child Development
          South Korea
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Child
          Adult
          Prospective Studies
          Questionnaires
          Maternal Behavior
          Conflict (Psychology)
          Sex Factors
          Social Environment
          Educational Status
          Scales
          Descriptive Statistics
          Child: 6-12 years
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Although recent studies have examined the impacts of maternal work-family conflict (WFC) on child development, the cognitive domain remains underexplored. This study investigates the longitudinal relationship between maternal WFC and children's executive function (EF) difficulties in South Korea, with an emphasis on the asymmetric effects and potential heterogeneity by the child's sex. Utilizing four waves from the Panel Study on Korean Children, this study focused on employed mothers and their school-age children (N = 1,054). Asymmetric fixed effects (FE) models were used to estimate the differential impacts of increasing versus decreasing maternal WFC while controlling for unobserved individual-level confounders. Moreover, sex-stratified analyses were performed to examine the differential patterns based on the child's sex. Asymmetric FE models revealed that the estimated effects of increasing maternal WFC on EF difficulties (β = 0.050, p < 0.001) are statistically significant and larger in magnitude than those of decreasing WFC. These differential impacts were more pronounced among boys than girls. Stratified by child's sex, the effects of increasing maternal WFC on EF difficulties were statistically significant in boys (β = 0.090, p < 0.001) but not in girls. The findings of this study suggest that the detrimental influences of increasing WFC on children's EF difficulties may not be counterbalanced by the benefits of decreasing WFC. These insights should guide policymakers to consider strategies aimed at reducing work demands and providing targeted support to families, thereby alleviating the negative consequences of maternal WFC on children's cognitive development.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        equations & formulas
        research
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        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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