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It has also been shown that the women in the current study
generally prefer psychological self-care before well-being at
work or health self-care. The least preferred self-care area is
physical self-care although it still has an above-average score.
The preference for interpersonal care, personal growth activities
and emotional control (the psychological sphere of self-care) has
also been shown by Hricová (2018). These findings also
correspond with the fact that women are more likely to pursue
their self-development goals (Nurmi, 1992).
In terms of the relationships between the examined variables, the
results of the correlation analyses have confirmed that the higher
the level of family overload, the higher the level of perceived
stress and emotional exhaustion at work (or it can be interpreted
both ways). Likewise, in research on women working in the
health services, Ahmad (2010) found that the feeling of role
overload is related to greater emotional exhaustion as well as
conflict between work and family.
It is also of interest that the results show relationships between
the components of self-care and the overload signals at work and
family. There were negative significant relationships of a slight
to moderate level found between the three areas of self-care
(psychological, work and health) on the one side and work
(emotional exhaustion, perceived stress) and family overload on
the other. Regarding to the correlation character of the research,
we can talk about two interpretative lines. Firstly, as
psychological, work and health self-care increase, emotional
exhaustion and family overload decline. On the contrary, with
the growing sense of overload at work and family, the need for
self-care in these areas increases.
Mesárošová (2018a) found similar results in her research on
social workers. She found that with increasing psychological and
work self-care, the negative work-related consequences were
reduced. The significance of psychological care for themselves
in relation to fatigue relief has also been confirmed by Köverová
(2018b).
Regarding physical self-care, there was only a moderate negative
relationship with emotional exhaustion in the current study. One
of the possible explanations is also related to the nature of the
work. The work positions of women addressed are very
physically demanding (custody and treatment of clients/patients,
rehabilitation, etc.), and combined with many family
responsibilities that are not less physically demanding, women
are unlikely to need and feel the relief of other physical activities
related to self-care.
However, the main aim of the study was to compare the level
and structure of self-care in women experiencing heavy dual role
overload to women who do not feel the overload to such a high
degree. The starting point was the belief that in order to maintain
mental and physical health and prevent stress-related diseases,
the synergies between work- and personal-load need to be taken
into account (Krantz et al., 2005). It was found that about 39%
of the total number of women that were surveyed have suffered
from both work-related and family over-limit claims. Women
who have experienced work-related overload (particularly higher
levels of emotional exhaustion and perceived stress) take care of
themselves significantly less than the comparison group of
women with lower dual-load. This was the case in three out of
the four areas of self-care (psychological, occupational and
health).
The negative relationship between mental workload and self-care
activities has also been shown by Mesárošová (2018b). The
preventive effects of self-care activities on burnout (emotional
exhaustion as the most important component of burnout) and
excessive stress have also been confirmed in several
international studies (e.g. Alkema et al., 2008; Griner, 2013;
Jones, 2005). From the point of view of application of
knowledge for practice, we believe that raising competences in
self-care (e.g. disseminating information and skills in ways of
self-care, promoting self-regulation and self-efficacy in this area
...) is precisely what helps to reduce the consequences of the dual
role overload of work and family. The results suggest that
different types of self-care have an impact on the amount and
form of overload. In practice, this could lead to more targeted
and effective prevention of burnout for example.
In terms of further research, it is important to pay more attention
to examining the conditions in the area of work and family that
cause the overload and conflict between women´s roles. A
deeper understanding of work and family life requires a number
of perspectives related to working environment, work-related
stress and work requirements, working hours, job satisfaction,
family support, overall quality of life and mental health.
Moreover, a longitudinal exploration would help to understand
the changing nature of job roles over time better and see how the
stages of the family life cycle (e.g. childbirth and childcare)
affect work and family interests. One of the limitations of the
presented study is the fact that the group was composed only of
women. This limits the possibilities for comparison. Another
limitation is the self-assessing nature of the methodologies used,
which may have distorted the results to some extent. The
selection of respondents was intentionally focused on helping
work although extending to other professions would increase the
degree of external validity. Internal validity could be supported
in the future by using other methodologies and linking
quantitative and qualitative methods in the research. Further
research includes comparing the overload rate for men and
women and the inclusion of other types of professions. It is also
of interest to consider verifying the benefits or supporting factors
in the event of overload.
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