Internet Intervention for Well-Being and Work-Family Conflict in Dual-Earner Couples

NCT07845799 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 2020/39/D/HS6/02131
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 564
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if an online program treats stress in working couples. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does the 3-week online program lower stress for participants?
• Does doing the program together work better than doing it alone?
• Does the program lower conflict between work and home life?
• Does the program improve job and family satisfaction? Researchers will compare four groups (both partners, only women, only men, and a waitlist) to see if doing the program together works best to lower stress. Participants will:
• Fill out online surveys at the start, after 3 weeks, and 6 months later.
• Use a 3-week online program to manage time and lower stress.
• Read short texts and track their daily habits.
• Talk and plan with their partner if placed in the joint group.

Conditions

Psychological Stress; Work-Family Conflict; Family-Work Conflict

Keywords

Internet Intervention; Work-Family Conflict; Family-Work Conflict; Perceived Stress; Dual-Earner Couples; Dyadic Intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Perceived Stress

  Perceived stress will be assessed using the 4-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). The scale measures the extent to which participants perceive their lives as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded. Items are rated on a 5-point scale from 0 ("never") to 4 ("very often"). Positively worded items are reverse scored, and item scores are summed. Higher scores indicate greater perceived stress.

  Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Work-to-Family Conflict (WFC)

  Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

• Family-to-Work Conflict (FWC)

  Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

• Job Satisfaction

  Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

• Family Satisfaction

  Immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

Other Outcomes (8)

• Self-Compassion

  Baseline (T1), immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

• Segmentation and Integration Strategies

  Baseline (T1), immediately after the 3-week intervention period (T2) and at the 6-month follow-up (T3).

• Intervention Credibility and Outcome Expectancy

  Baseline (T1).

Study Arms (4)

Dyadic intervention condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Both partners in the dual-earner couple actively participate in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints.

Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict

Individual female-partner intervention condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Only the female partner actively participates in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints.

Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict

Individual male-partner intervention condition

EXPERIMENTAL

Only the male partner actively participates in the 3-week internet-delivered psychological intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints.

Behavioral: Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict

Waitlist control condition

NO INTERVENTION

Neither partner receives access to the intervention during the active trial phase. Both partners complete assessments at all timepoints. Participants in this group are offered access to the intervention materials after the final 6-month follow-up assessment.

Interventions

Internet-delivered psychological intervention for work-family conflict BEHAVIORAL

An unguided, 3-week internet-delivered intervention hosted on Google Classroom. It aims to help dual-earner couples manage time-based and strain-based work-family conflict. The program comprises two parallel strands combining psychoeducation, boundary management strategies, self-compassion, emotional awareness, implementation intentions, and behavioral experiments. In the dyadic condition, it also includes joint exercises involving mutual reflection and communication.

Dyadic intervention condition; Individual female-partner intervention condition; Individual male-partner intervention condition

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Gender Eligibility Details: This study is open to cohabiting heterosexual couples consisting of one self-identified female partner and one self-identified male partner. Eligibility requires enrollment and participation of both partners as a couple.
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Cohabiting heterosexual couples
• Both partners are adults aged 18 or older,
• Both partners work at least 20 hours per week,
• Both partners have lived together in the same household for at least 1 year,
• Expecting to continue living together throughout the study period,
• Experiencing conflict between work and family life,
• Interested in learning new strategies to manage work and family demands,
• Both partners agree to participate in the study.

You may not qualify if:

• Either partner lacks access to an internet-connected device,
• Either partner has insufficient Polish language skills to complete the online program and surveys.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw: lead
• National Science Centre, Poland: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

SWPS University

Warsaw, Masovian Voivodeship, 03-815, Poland

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Stress, Psychological

Interventions

Work-Life Balance

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; Personnel Management; Organization and Administration; Health Services Administration

Central Study Contacts

Ewelina Smoktunowicz, PhD

CONTACT

+48 22 517 99 21; esmoktunowicz@swps.edu.pl

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: A four-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial where dual-earner couples are allocated to one of four conditions: a dyadic intervention, an individual female-partner intervention, an individual male-partner intervention, or a waitlist control condition.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 21, 2026
• First Posted: September 29, 2026
• Study Start: October 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 1, 2027
• Last Updated: September 29, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Data will become available upon completion of the study and publication of the trial results, with no fixed expiration date.
• Access Criteria: Open and unrestricted access via the Open Science Framework (OSF) public repository or similar.

Locations

PL (1)