A Model Counseling Intervention Program to Prepare Adolescents for Coping with Work-Family Conflict

Abstract

Men and women in Western society now commonly pursue careers while concomitantly functioning as spouses and parents. This combination of roles frequently leads to significant stress, often termed by researchers as work-family conflict. This stress results from the natural desire to succeed in both domains alongside limitations of one’s time and energy. Much research over the last 20 years has demonstrated the negative ramifications of this stress in the family domain as well as in the work domain (e.g., poor family relations; low job commitment and satisfaction). These negative outcomes highlight the need for educational and counseling interventions that provide adolescents with appropriate coping skills for more satisfactory blending of critical life roles. Based on theory and research on work-family conflict and adolescent development, this chapter presents an intervention model that includes elements of enhanced self-awareness about future life roles as well as planning and coping skills that ameliorate the conflict.