Linking parents' work stress to children's and adolescents' psychological adjustment

Recent research indicates that parental work stress has implications for th e quality of family interaction and, in turn, children's and adolescents' a djustment. Studies in two distinct genres are reviewed: investigations rely ing on global reports of work demands, family dynamics, and child and adole scent adjustment and studies focusing on within-person comparisons of famil y interaction on days characterized by high and low work stress. The effect s of parental work stress on children's and adolescents' adjustment appear to be indirect. Work stress is linked to parents' feelings of overload and strain, which in turn predict lower parent-child acceptance and higher conf lict, processes that in turn are related to less positive adjustment of chi ldren and adolescents. In the face of high work stress, withdrawing from fa mily involvement may be adaptive in the short run but ultimately problemati c. The strength of these associations depends on parents' personality quali ties, parents' coping styles, and work and family circumstances.