IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v26y2025i2d10.1007_s10902-024-00825-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Meeting the Challenges of Flexible Work Designs: Effects of an Intervention Based on Self-Regulation on Detachment, Well-being, and Work–Family Conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Sarah Elena Althammer

    (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
    Heidelberg University)

  • Anne Marit Wöhrmann

    (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
    Leuphana University Lüneburg)

  • Alexandra Michel

    (Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA)
    Heidelberg University)

Abstract

Self-regulation is important for coping with demands of flexible work designs (FWD) such as telework, remote work, or flextime. This article evaluates a web-based intervention based on self-regulation models to enable workers meet challenges of FWD and thus improve recovery, work-life balance, and well-being. Over six weeks, participants learnt self-regulation strategies to detach from work, segment work and private life, and organize their workday. In a randomized controlled trial, participants were assigned to an intervention group or a waitlist control group. Study participants rated their levels of self-regulation, psychological detachment, strain-based work–family conflict (WFC), and affective, cognitive and work-related well-being (indicated by positive affect, stress, and work engagement) before and after the intervention, and at a four-week and six-month follow-up. The final sample after the training included 358 participants (intervention group: n = 147; control group: n = 211). As expected, covariance analyses revealed that the intervention improved positive affect and work engagement, and that it reduced stress and strain-based WFC. Moreover, we found positive effects on psychological detachment for participants with low baseline levels of psychological detachment. Self-regulation mediated intervention effects on positive affect and work engagement. Effects hold at four-week and six-month follow-ups, except for work engagement. Overall, findings indicate that the intervention is an effective tool for promoting self-regulation and enabling workers to achieve their goals regarding recovery, work-life balance, and well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Elena Althammer & Anne Marit Wöhrmann & Alexandra Michel, 2025. "Meeting the Challenges of Flexible Work Designs: Effects of an Intervention Based on Self-Regulation on Detachment, Well-being, and Work–Family Conflict," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-28, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00825-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-024-00825-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-024-00825-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-024-00825-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wilmar Schaufeli & Marisa Salanova & Vicente González-romá & Arnold Bakker, 2002. "The Measurement of Engagement and Burnout: A Two Sample Confirmatory Factor Analytic Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 71-92, March.
    2. Lianne P. Vries & Bart M. L. Baselmans & Meike Bartels, 2021. "Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment of Well-Being: A Systematic Review and Recommendations for Future Studies," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 2361-2408, June.
    3. Oettingen, Gabriele & Kappes, Heather Barry & Guttenberg, Katie B. & Gollwitzer, Peter M., 2015. "Self-regulation of time management: mental contrasting with implementation intentions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 61631, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Kamila Wojdylo & Nicola Baumann & Julius Kuhl, 2017. "The Firepower of Work Craving: When Self-Control Is Burning under the Rubble of Self-Regulation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Rosseel, Yves, 2012. "lavaan: An R Package for Structural Equation Modeling," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 48(i02).
    6. Andrew MacLeod & Emma Coates & Jacquie Hetherton, 2008. "Increasing well-being through teaching goal-setting and planning skills: results of a brief intervention," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 185-196, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jorge Sinval & M. Joseph Sirgy & Dong-Jin Lee & João Marôco, 2020. "The Quality of Work Life Scale: Validity Evidence from Brazil and Portugal," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1323-1351, November.
    2. Gordon W. Cheung & Helena D. Cooper-Thomas & Rebecca S. Lau & Linda C. Wang, 2024. "Reporting reliability, convergent and discriminant validity with structural equation modeling: A review and best-practice recommendations," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 745-783, June.
    3. Jiri Mudrak & Katerina Zabrodska & Petr Kveton & Martin Jelinek & Marek Blatny & Iva Solcova & Katerina Machovcova, 2018. "Occupational Well-being Among University Faculty: A Job Demands-Resources Model," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(3), pages 325-348, May.
    4. George S. Androulakis & Dimitra Ap. Georgiou & George Nikolaou, 2021. "The Grid of Burnout, Engagement and Job Satisfaction: a Case Study in Greece," International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 11(4), pages 2446-2446, December.
    5. Raimundo Aguayo-Estremera & Gustavo R. Cañadas & Elena Ortega-Campos & Tania Ariza & Emilia Inmaculada De la Fuente-Solana, 2023. "Validity Evidence for the Internal Structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey: A Comparison between Classical CFA Model and the ESEM and the Bifactor Models," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-21, March.
    6. Sonia Nawrocka & Hans De Witte & Margherita Pasini & Margherita Brondino, 2023. "A Person-Centered Approach to Job Insecurity: Is There a Reciprocal Relationship between the Quantitative and Qualitative Dimensions of Job Insecurity?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Md. Mominur Rahman & Bilkis Akhter, 2021. "The impact of investment in human capital on bank performance: evidence from Bangladesh," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Mader, Xana & Santos, Joana & Gonçalves, Gabriela, 2018. "Job Satisfaction In A Tourist Resort In Portugal," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 6(3), pages 314-325.
    9. Masashi Soga & Kevin J. Gaston & Yuichi Yamaura & Kiyo Kurisu & Keisuke Hanaki, 2016. "Both Direct and Vicarious Experiences of Nature Affect Children’s Willingness to Conserve Biodiversity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-12, May.
    10. César Merino-Soto & Gina Chávez-Ventura & Verónica López-Fernández & Guillermo M. Chans & Filiberto Toledano-Toledano, 2022. "Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-L): Psychometric and Measurement Invariance Evidence in Peruvian Undergraduate Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-17, September.
    11. Serdar Çop & Victor Oluwafemi Olorunsola & Uju Violet Alola, 2021. "Achieving environmental sustainability through green transformational leadership policy: Can green team resilience help?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 671-682, January.
    12. Onintze Letona-Ibañez & Silvia Martinez-Rodriguez & Nuria Ortiz-Marques & Maria Carrasco & Alejandro Amillano, 2021. "Job Crafting and Work Engagement: The Mediating Role of Work Meaning," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-15, May.
    13. Paula van Dommelen & Jennifer K Coffeng & Hidde P van der Ploeg & Allard J van der Beek & Cécile R L Boot & Ingrid J M Hendriksen, 2016. "Objectively Measured Total and Occupational Sedentary Time in Three Work Settings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, March.
    14. Nathaniel Oliver Iotti & Damiano Menin & Tomas Jungert, 2022. "Early Adolescents’ Motivations to Defend Victims of Cyberbullying," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-9, July.
    15. AJ Golio, 2024. "Whose Neighborhood Now? Gentrification and Community Life in Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods," Working Papers 24-29, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    16. Modesta Morkevičiūtė & Auksė Endriulaitienė, 2022. "Understanding Work Addiction in Adult Children: The Effect of Addicted Parents and Work Motivation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-15, September.
    17. Peter Tavel & Bibiana Jozefiakova & Peter Telicak & Jana Furstova & Michal Puza & Natalia Kascakova, 2022. "Psychometric Analysis of the Shortened Version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale on the Slovak Population (SWBS-Sk)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-12, January.
    18. Allen, Jaime & Eboli, Laura & Forciniti, Carmen & Mazzulla, Gabriella & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios, 2019. "The role of critical incidents and involvement in transit satisfaction and loyalty," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 57-69.
    19. Katharina Groskurth & Constanze Beierlein & Désirée Nießen & Anna Baumert & Beatrice Rammstedt & Clemens M Lechner, 2023. "An English-Language adaptation and validation of the Justice Sensitivity Short Scales–8 (JSS-8)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(11), pages 1-22, November.
    20. Christoph Dworschak, 2024. "Bias mitigation in empirical peace and conflict studies: A short primer on posttreatment variables," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(3), pages 462-476, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10902-024-00825-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.