Are Support and Control Beneficial Stress Buffers in the Presence of Work–Family Barriers? Findings From Italy

Work–family barriers can be conceived as a stressor, as it refers to organizational time demands interfering with an employee’s family-related needs and anticipated negative career outcomes as a result of prioritizing family over work. The negative effects of stressors can be buffered by various resources. In this study, we examined whether 4 specific job resources (i.e., work–family organizational support, supervisors’ and coworkers’ overall support, and job control) buffer against work–family barriers in relation to work-to-family enrichment. We sampled 447 Italian workers employed in the food-processing industry. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that all the studied resources, except work–family organizational support, buffered against the negative effects of work–family barriers on work-to-family enrichment. In addition, 3 of 4 resources (i.e., work–family organizational support, job control, and supervisors’ overall social support) had a direct positive effect on work-to-family enrichment. The results call attention to job resources in boosting a positive work–family interface, and cross-validate the positive effects of resources in an Italian context