How does remote work shape work–family balance? The interaction of work stress and leadership support

In the digital era, remote work has become an essential operational model for organizations, yet its mechanisms for influencing employees’ work–family balance remain contested. This study integrates the work–family boundary theory, the job demands–resources model, and the leadership support theory to construct a mediating-moderating model. It aims to reveal the mechanism through which remote work influences work–family balance via work stress and further examines the moderating effect of leadership support. Using survey data from 312 employees across multiple industries in mainland China, hierarchical regression and bootstrap analyses were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that remote work significantly enhances employees’ work–family balance while simultaneously reducing work-related stress. Work stress exerts a significant negative effect on balance, partially mediated by remote work. Leadership support both facilitates work–family balance directly and negatively moderates the effect of remote work on balance, suggesting that at high levels, it may substitute for the resource effects of remote work. Interviews further reveal the double-edged sword effect of leadership support, providing a mechanistic explanation for the statistical findings. The main contributions of this study are: integrating three major theories to extend the applicability boundaries of boundary theory and the JD–R model in remote contexts; revealing that leadership support is not a singular positive resource but exhibits context-dependent dual effects; and proposing an integrated management approach of “flexible arrangements–stress mitigation–moderate leadership,” contributing novel theoretical evidence and actionable guidance to the organizational structuring of remote work systems.