Navigating Work-Family Conflict in Seafaring Profession: A Latent Profile Analysis Revealing Four Paths of Conflict and a High-Risk Crew in China

Abstract

The unique nature of the seafaring profession exposes seafarers to severe work-family conflict (WFC). However, existing research often treats WFC as a single continuous variable, overlooking its inherent heterogeneity. This study aims to employ a person-centered approach, Latent Profile Analysis (LPA), to identify latent profiles of WFC among Chinese seafarers and to explore their demographic predictors and differential impacts on mental health. A survey was conducted with 2,619 active Chinese seafarers, measuring their levels of work-interfering-with-family (WIF), family-interfering-with-work (FIW), and multiple mental health indicators. LPA results identified four distinct conflict profiles: “Low Conflict-Balanced” (9%), “Unidirectional WIF” (27%), “Bidirectional WFC and Work-Dominant” (46%), and “Bidirectional High-Conflict” (18%). Multinomial logistic regression revealed that being married with children was a risk factor for belonging to more complex conflict profiles, while younger and more educated seafarers were more likely to be in the “Bidirectional High-Conflict” profile. Analysis of variance (BCH) showed significant differences in mental health across profiles, with the “Bidirectional High-Conflict” group reporting the lowest life satisfaction and the most severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatization, and sleep/eating disturbances. These findings uncover the heterogeneity of WFC among seafarers and identify a high-risk group in urgent need of intervention, providing crucial empirical evidence for shipping companies to develop differentiated and targeted mental health support strategies.