Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Healthcare professionals in Pakistan, particularly parents of young children, face significant challenges balancing work and caregiving, contributing to high turnover, especially among women. No studies have examined work-interfering family guilt (WIFG) and work-family conflict (WFC) in this context, nor explored these dynamics among both mothers and fathers. Thus, this study investigates predictors of WIFG and WFC among healthcare professionals with children under 12 years in Pakistan. METHODS: A cross-sectional study surveyed 188 healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses and allied health workers) across Pakistani hospitals using purposive and snowball sampling. Data were collected online via Google Forms with a validated questionnaire (Content Validity Index=0.9, Cronbach's alpha=0.9) assessing WIFG, WFC and predictors (eg, workload, childcare access). Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted in STATA V.15. RESULTS: Mothers reported higher WIFG than fathers (β=6.8; 95% CI 4.9 to 8.5), with lack of childcare access (β=2.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 4.6) increasing WIFG and higher parenting self-efficacy reducing it (β=-2.8; 95% CI -0.5 to -0.03). WFC was elevated with longer work hours (β=1.0; 95% CI 0.3 to 1.6) and when both parents worked, while younger professionals (β=-0.15; 95% CI -0.2 to -0.01) and fathers (β=-2.3; 95% CI -4.1 to -0.5) reported lower WFC. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore the urgency of institution-led initiatives, such as on-site childcare and flexible scheduling, to mitigate WIFG and WFC among Pakistani healthcare professionals. Including fathers offers novel, gender-inclusive insights, informing policies to enhance well-being and reduce turnover.