The importance of external social support for workplace-related stress as we grow older

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dc.contributor.authorCaines, V.
dc.contributor.authorTreuren, G.J.M.
dc.date.issued2024
dc.descriptionFirst published: 16 October 2023
dc.description.abstractObjectives: For older employees, a mismatch between work and non-work roles can lead to work–family conflict (WFC) and stress. This paper examines whether the availability of social support from outside the workplace can assist these employees in coping with the stress-related consequences of WFC. Methods: This study used data from Waves 16 (Time 1) and 17 (Time 2) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (N = 2,867). Sociodemographic characteristics were measured using age, sex, gender, and employment tenure. A moderated regression model was applied to the older employees in this sample using stress, WFC with external social support as the moderator. Analysis was additionally undertaken for the different aged employee cohorts younger (under 30) and middle-aged (30–50). Results: We found that external social support dampened the effect of work-family conflict on employee stress for older employees. This effect was more powerful for older employees than for younger employees. Interestingly, older employees reported the same levels of external social support as employees between 30 and 50, but less than that of employees under 30. Conclusion: Following our hypothesised relationships based on conservation of resources (COR), selection, optimisation with compensation (SOC) and socio-emotional selectivity theories (SST), this paper demonstrates that older employees benefit significantly from external social support. As external social support increased among older employees, the negative effect of work-family conflict on stress decreased. However, this effect was only significant for employees up to the 68th percentile. Overall, this effect was less powerful for both groups of younger employees. Consistent with SOC and SST, older employees possessed different social motives (less reported external social support). Employer and government strategies assisting employees to develop social networks outside the workplace may provide significant benefits to organisations in addition to employees.
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityValerie Caines, Gerrit J. M. Treuren
dc.identifier.citationAustralasian Journal on Ageing, 2024; 43(1):123-130
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/ajag.13252
dc.identifier.issn1440-6381
dc.identifier.issn1741-6612
dc.identifier.orcidCaines, V. [0000-0002-2292-607X]
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2440/139900
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherWiley
dc.rights© 2023 The Authors. Australasian Journal on Ageing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AJA Inc’. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.en
dc.source.urihttps://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.13252
dc.subjectaged; employment; middle aged; psychological distress; social support; work-life balance
dc.titleThe importance of external social support for workplace-related stress as we grow older
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished

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