Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists

Background: Pharmacists are key to China's healthcare system, balancing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western pharmaceuticals. The expanding pharmaceutical industry has increased their workload, contributing to work family conflict, which affects job satisfaction and performance and ca...

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Main Authors: Rabia Mahmood, Umbreen Khizar, Maham Imtiaz, Humara Adnan, Tanzila Rehman, Engidaw Abriham Ebabu, Abida Naz, Ali Ahmed Al-Halani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2450597
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author Rabia Mahmood
Umbreen Khizar
Maham Imtiaz
Humara Adnan
Tanzila Rehman
Engidaw Abriham Ebabu
Abida Naz
Ali Ahmed Al-Halani
author_facet Rabia Mahmood
Umbreen Khizar
Maham Imtiaz
Humara Adnan
Tanzila Rehman
Engidaw Abriham Ebabu
Abida Naz
Ali Ahmed Al-Halani
author_sort Rabia Mahmood
collection DOAJ
description Background: Pharmacists are key to China's healthcare system, balancing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western pharmaceuticals. The expanding pharmaceutical industry has increased their workload, contributing to work family conflict, which affects job satisfaction and performance and can lead to burnout. Psychological flexibility may alleviate the negative effects of work family conflict on job performance.Method: This study used a cross-sectional quantitative approach to examine the relationships between work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among 1,359 pharmacists in Shenzhen, China. Online questionnaires assessed work family conflict using the Work and Family Conflict Scale, psychological flexibility using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-2 and job performance using the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire.Results: Correlation analyses revealed significant positive associations between work family conflict and psychological flexibility and between psychological flexibility and job performance. Regression analyses showed that work family conflict negatively predicted job performance, while psychological flexibility positively predicted it. Pharmacists in metropolitan areas reported higher psychological flexibility than those in rural areas, but there were no significant differences in job performance. Male pharmacists had higher psychological flexibility and job performance scores than females although the differences were not statistically significant.Conclusion: This study underlines the importance of psychological flexibility in enhancing job performance amid work family conflict. The study suggests implementing stress reduction programmes, mindfulness training and workplace policies such as flexible working hours and childcare services to reduce work family conflict and foster psychological flexibility. Addressing these issues can significantly improve the well-being and job performance of pharmacists in China.
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spelling doaj-art-e2f6bdbb21c2401d899d17d6a61484832025-08-20T02:38:05ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice2052-32112025-12-0118110.1080/20523211.2025.2450597Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacistsRabia Mahmood0Umbreen Khizar1Maham Imtiaz2Humara Adnan3Tanzila Rehman4Engidaw Abriham Ebabu5Abida Naz6Ali Ahmed Al-Halani7Department of Chemistry, University of Education, Vehari Campus, Lahore, PakistanDepartment of Psychology, Institute of Southern Punjab, Multan, PakistanDepartment of Applied Psychology, The Women University Multan, Lahore, PakistanDepartment of Mathematics, Comsats University, Islamabad, PakistanDepartment of Chemistry, The Women University Multan, Lahore, PakistanShenzhen Research Institute, University of International Business and Economics, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of ChinaComputer Science and Engineering Department, Central South University, Changsha, People’s Republic of ChinaBiology Department, Faculty of Education and Applied Sciences, Hajjah University, Hajjah, YemenBackground: Pharmacists are key to China's healthcare system, balancing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western pharmaceuticals. The expanding pharmaceutical industry has increased their workload, contributing to work family conflict, which affects job satisfaction and performance and can lead to burnout. Psychological flexibility may alleviate the negative effects of work family conflict on job performance.Method: This study used a cross-sectional quantitative approach to examine the relationships between work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among 1,359 pharmacists in Shenzhen, China. Online questionnaires assessed work family conflict using the Work and Family Conflict Scale, psychological flexibility using the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-2 and job performance using the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire.Results: Correlation analyses revealed significant positive associations between work family conflict and psychological flexibility and between psychological flexibility and job performance. Regression analyses showed that work family conflict negatively predicted job performance, while psychological flexibility positively predicted it. Pharmacists in metropolitan areas reported higher psychological flexibility than those in rural areas, but there were no significant differences in job performance. Male pharmacists had higher psychological flexibility and job performance scores than females although the differences were not statistically significant.Conclusion: This study underlines the importance of psychological flexibility in enhancing job performance amid work family conflict. The study suggests implementing stress reduction programmes, mindfulness training and workplace policies such as flexible working hours and childcare services to reduce work family conflict and foster psychological flexibility. Addressing these issues can significantly improve the well-being and job performance of pharmacists in China.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2450597Work Family conflictpsychological flexibilityjob performancepharmacistsChinahealthcare
spellingShingle Rabia Mahmood
Umbreen Khizar
Maham Imtiaz
Humara Adnan
Tanzila Rehman
Engidaw Abriham Ebabu
Abida Naz
Ali Ahmed Al-Halani
Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists
Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice
Work Family conflict
psychological flexibility
job performance
pharmacists
China
healthcare
title Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists
title_full Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists
title_fullStr Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists
title_full_unstemmed Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists
title_short Balancing acts: exploring work family conflict, psychological flexibility and job performance among Chinese pharmacists
title_sort balancing acts exploring work family conflict psychological flexibility and job performance among chinese pharmacists
topic Work Family conflict
psychological flexibility
job performance
pharmacists
China
healthcare
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/20523211.2025.2450597
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