Running and its effect on family life
D. S. Fick, S. J. Goff and R. Oppliger
Department of Family Practice, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency with which commitment to running
conflicts with family life, to distinguish between runners who experience
conflict and those who do not based on their levels of commitment to the
roles of runner and family member, and to determine whether runners who
reported conflict receive less support for running from their significant
other. DESIGN: A questionnaire was mailed to 1426 members of a running
club. Personal demographics, running quantity, conflict, commitment to
running, family commitment, and spouse support were measured. The Family
APGAR scale was used to measure global family functioning, assessing
adaptation, partnership, growth, affection, and resolve. RESULTS: There
were 724 respondents for a response rate of 50.8%. Five hundred fifty-eight
runners (356 men, and 202 women) lived with a partner. The mean score for
conflict was 1.9. Only 32 (5.5%) had a score above 3 (high conflict). When
evaluated together and separately, the women and men in the high-conflict
groups had equal commitment to running, lower family commitment, lower
spouse support, and a lower Family APGAR score compared with the
low-conflict group. CONCLUSIONS: In this study running is not a major
contributor to family conflict. Those runners who are experiencing conflict
seem to have a more global conflict with their families that is independent
of running, manifested by decreasing spouse support for the runner's
activities. If a runner is an active, committed member of his or her own
family and sets this commitment as a priority, it does not appear that the
time and energy of running is by itself a source of conflict.
