Work-Family Guilt: The Perspective of Secondary School Athletic Trainers With Children

Context The literature in athletic training has consistently demonstrated evidence of work-family-life conflict and the potential consequences of that conflict among athletic trainers (ATs) employed in the clinical setting. Parental responsibilities have been suggested to increase the conflict among work, family, and life. The emotions that occur because of this conflict have received little attention and warrant further study. Objective To investigate perceptions and antecedents of work-family guilt (WFG) among secondary school ATs with children. Design Phenomenological qualitative study. Setting Secondary schools. Patients or Other Participants Twenty (13 women, 7 men) ATs with children (range = 1–3) employed in the secondary school setting. All but 3 were married (n = 17) at the time of the study. Their average age was 37 ± 11 years, and they were certified as ATs for 14 ± 11 years. Data Collection and Analysis Participants completed one-on-one semistructured phone interviews. Multiple-analyst triangulation and peer review were used to establish data credibility. Results General inductive analysis revealed that men and women participants experienced feelings of WFG despite having supportive work environments. The guilt for both sexes stemmed from work interfering with family and an altruistic mindset. Women indicated they felt pressure from their husbands that contributed to feelings of guilt. Conclusions Secondary school ATs experienced WFG. Trying to balance parental and athletic training duties can cause an emotional response, and ATs' giving and caring nature may be a precursor to guilt.