Parental Physical Illness and College Students’ Life Satisfaction: Role of Occupational Balance

Abstract

This study examined the effects of parental physical illness and its severity on college students’ life satisfaction through the role-balance framework, with occupational balance as a potential mediator. In this cross-sectional study, 324 college students from the United States completed an online survey. The students reported their parents’ health/illness status and responded to measures assessing perceived family demand, family–school conflict, occupational balance, and life satisfaction. Path analyses revealed that parental illness heightened college students’ perceived family demands, which subsequently contributed to increased family–school conflict and reduced occupational balance. Furthermore, occupational balance fully mediated the relationship between family–school conflict and life satisfaction. The findings highlight the importance of examining multiple role conflicts in understanding the effects of parental physical illness on college students’ adjustment. Promoting occupational balance may be a potential intervention to help college students cope with the challenges of parental illness.

Plain Language Summary

A Study on How Parental Physical Illness Shapes College Students’ Well-Being as They Manage Competing Multiple Role Demands and Strive for a Balanced Daily Life

When a parent becomes physically ill, the whole family feels the impact. For college students, this can mean stepping into extra responsibilities as emerging adults, such as helping with personal or emotional care, or even pitching in financially. These added demands can easily spill over into their college life, making it harder to juggle what’s expected at home with what’s expected at school. Even though this situation is common, we still don’t know enough about how parental illness affects college students, especially when it comes to balancing home and school roles and how this balance influences their overall life satisfaction. This study explores how parental physical illness might shape students’ well-being by increasing family demands, creating more conflict between family and school, and affecting their sense of occupational balance—their ability to engage in a healthy mix of daily activities. Using data from 324 college students, the results showed that having a parent who is ill tends to increase students’ family responsibilities. Those increased demands then contribute to more family–school conflict, which ultimately lowers their life satisfaction. The good news is that occupational balance seems to help: students who maintain a varied and meaningful routine, whether that includes family time, schoolwork, jobs, community activities, relaxation, or socializing, were less affected by the strain of family–school conflict. Overall, finding ways to support students in maintaining balance across their daily roles may be an important way to help them cope with the challenges that come with having a parent who is ill.