Job insecurity and mental health among community workers: the mediating role of work-family conflict

This paper explores the mediating role of work-family conflict (WFC) in the relationship between job insecurity and mental health. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and the Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, a conceptual model is developed and tested. An online survey was created, including a sociodemographic questionnaire and measures of job insecurity, WFC, and mental health. Participants were 189 community social workers actively working with disadvantaged groups in social intervention projects. The results show that job insecurity increases depression / strain among community workers and significantly impacts on time-based and strain-based work-family conflict. Strain-based and behavior-based work-family conflict negatively influence social functioning and increase depression / strain. The mediation results show that strain-based WFC was the only WFC dimension that significantly mediated the relationship between job insecurity and mental health. The study findings and its contribution to current research in the JD-R model and COR theory are discussed.