Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aims to examine the mediating effect of life stress and the moderated mediating effect of job satisfaction on work-family conflict and depression among working mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A secondary analysis was conducted using raw data from Wave 8 of the Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families, collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Among the 9175 respondents, study included 1315 women aged between 26 and 55, who have children cohabiting with them. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics; T-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS/WIN 26.0 program and the SPSS PROCESS macro (version 4.0). RESULTS: Life stress was observed to have a significant mediating effect (indirect effect) on work-family conflict and depression. Within this indirect effect, job satisfaction was found to play a moderated mediating role. CONCLUSION: Drawing from these findings, various interventional strategies can be devised to alleviate work-family conflict and life stress, and enhance job satisfaction, thereby improving the mental health of working mothers. Additionally, these results offer valuable insights for developing mental health promotion programs aimed at preventing and preparing for crises such as infectious diseases and can contribute to inform health policy-making.