中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: Using a family system perspective, this study examined the phenomenon of work and family stress and coping of couples with young children with the goal of understanding changes in family system boundaries while managing work and family stress. Methods: A total of 31 pairs of dual-career Taiwanese couples with mean age of 35 and with their first child in preschool were invited. They were conjointly interviewed, with a pre-designed interview guide.. Results: Qualitative analysis of the interviews indicated that most dual-income couples experienced stress with the change of childcare arrangements as their first child entered preschool. The boundary of the nuclear family system blurred with different subsystems. Two types of power structures in the nuclear family were evident: one dominated by the marital subsystem, and one dominated by the parenting subsystem. To cope with work and family stress, some couples sought support from their parents and experienced the impact of system boundary ambiguity. Others squeezed and shrank their individual boundaries due to the lack of outside resources. Conclusions: Child-rearing is a critical stage for establishing the boundaries of a nuclear family for Taiwanese couples. Whether the resources provided by their families of origin were helpful or not depended upon the consensus of the couple. When the parenting subsystem overpowered the marital subsystem it presented a problem for couples with young children.