Acceptance and Commitment Improve the Work-Caregiving Interface Among Dementia Family Caregivers

Although working dementia family caregivers experience negative (i.e., work-family conflict; WFC) and positive (i.e., work-family enrichment; WFE) aspects of balancing work and caregiving, little is known about factors that alleviate negative aspects and enhance positive aspects of the work-caregiving interface. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of acceptance and commitment to personal values, which are transdiagnostic in nature and key concepts of acceptance and commitment therapy, on the relationships between work/caregiving demands and WFC and between work/caregiving resources and WFE among working dementia family caregivers. Data were drawn from a three-wave 6-month interval longitudinal survey of Japanese working dementia family caregivers (N = 747). Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the main effect of acceptance and commitment to personal values on WFC/WFE, and their moderating effect on relationships between work/caregiving demands and WFC, and work/caregiving resources (job control, supervisor/coworker support, organizational support, caregiving support) and WFE. Acceptance was negatively associated with WFC and weakened the positive relationship between work/caregiving demands and WFC. Commitment to personal values was negatively associated with WFC and positively associated with WFE. Commitment to personal values weakened the positive relationships between work/caregiving demands and WFC and moderated the relationship between caregiving support and WFE. The findings suggest that acceptance may be effective in alleviating WFC and commitment to personal values contributes to alleviating WFC and increasing WFE. Acceptance and commitment therapy may help to improve the work-caregiving interface among dementia family caregivers. Public Significance Statement The current findings suggest that acceptance and commitment to personal values are effective for alleviating work-family conflict and enhancing work-family enrichment among working dementia family caregivers. Acceptance and commitment therapy, which can improve acceptance and commitment to personal values, may help working dementia family caregivers to balance work and caregiving, and improve their work-caregiving interface.