Fatherhood among healthcare workers: perceived work-family conflict and its influential factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional and exploratory longitudinal findings from the VOICE study.
Mogwitz S, Körber J, Jerg-Bretzke L, Albus C, Baranowski AM, Beschoner P, Erim Y, Geiser F, Morawa E, Steudte-Schmiedgen S, Wintermann GB, Weidner K (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
Journal
Book Volume: 14
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1782679
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The increased mental distress among healthcare workers (HCW) during the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented. Frontline research has rarely focused on fathers among HCW. This web-based multi-center study aimed to evaluate work-family conflict (WFC) among HCW fathers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Work-family conflict was assessed in cross-sectional, partly overlapping subsamples of 2,844 fathers across four time points (T1: n = 1,155; T2: n = 930; T3: n = 343; T4: n = 416) from April 2020 to May 2022, and compared to 6,981 age-matched mothers and 1,194 male colleagues without children. A longitudinal subsample of n = 188 fathers who participated at two or more time points was analyzed separately. The impact of workload, exhaustion, fear, moral concerns, and institutional trust on HCW fathers' WFC was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, cross-sectional linear modeling, and longitudinal linear mixed-effects modeling. RESULTS: Fathers reported higher WFC at T1-T3, with levels comparable to mothers, except at T2, when fathers exceeded them. WFC increased from T1 to T4. Risk factors included higher workload, exhaustion, moral concerns, and lower institutional trust, with exploratory longitudinal evidence pointing to a growing protective role of institutional trust against WFC over time. Younger age, cohabitation, children in the household, contact with COVID-19 and full-time employment were also linked to higher WFC. More fathers were working full-time than childless male colleagues. CONCLUSION: Our findings underscore that WFC among HCW fathers is a structural issue that requires targeted workplace adaptations during crises. Addressing fathers' caregiving roles through flexible and culturally sensitive policies will be crucial to mitigate conflict and promote sustainable work-family integration. Future research should examine causal pathways to develop tailored work-life balance models for fathers.
Authors with CRIS profile
Yesim Erim
Professur für Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie
Eva Morawa
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy
Involved external institutions
Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden
Germany (DE)
Universitätsklinikum Bonn
Germany (DE)
Universitätsklinikum Ulm
Germany (DE)
Germany (DE)
Universitätsklinikum Bonn
Germany (DE)
Universitätsklinikum Ulm
Germany (DE)
How to cite
APA:
Mogwitz, S., Körber, J., Jerg-Bretzke, L., Albus, C., Baranowski, A.M., Beschoner, P.,... Weidner, K. (2026). Fatherhood among healthcare workers: perceived work-family conflict and its influential factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional and exploratory longitudinal findings from the VOICE study. Frontiers in Public Health, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1782679
MLA:
Mogwitz, Sabine, et al. "Fatherhood among healthcare workers: perceived work-family conflict and its influential factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross-sectional and exploratory longitudinal findings from the VOICE study." Frontiers in Public Health 14 (2026).
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