Effects of job stress on family relationships

•Irritability, anger, and social withdrawal are common responses to job stress.•Effects vary depending on gender and individual and family characteristics.•Short-term processes may accumulate creating stable family dynamics.•Some responses may protect the family from direct displays of stress.

In the short-term, daily job stressors influence family interactions through their impact on the employed person's mood, thoughts, and coping behaviors. In the long-term, family relationships can be shaped by those experiences in both positive and negative ways. Some spouse ‘cross-over’ effects appear to represent accommodations of the employed partner under stress — for instance, a spouse's increased provision of social support and involvement with children — and are evidence of dynamics that go beyond a simple and direct transfer of stress from work to home.