Exploring the relationship between parental burnout and parenting practices.

Abstract

Although parenting comes with many joys and rewards, it can also be incredibly stressful and challenging. When the demands of parenting outweigh the available resources, parents can develop a chronic and debilitating stress related condition termed parental burnout. This state not only has negative effects on parents but it can have harmful impacts on the children of these parents. Historically, research on parental burnout has focussed on parents of sick or disabled children. More recently, emerging research demonstrates that parental burnout can be experienced by parents of typical and atypical children. As researchers attempt to understand the mechanisms behind parental burnout they seek to identify contributory factors. One factor that has been shown to influence parental burnout is the behaviour of the parents, in particular the types of parenting practices they use. Numerous studies have determined a relationship between the use of certain parenting practices and the outcomes for children, but the outcomes for parents have not been studied. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between parenting practices and parental burnout. Parents (N =83, 85.5% mothers, Mage = 34.53 years, SD = 5.92) provided reports of their parenting practices and parental burnout symptoms during a one-on-one interview with a researcher. Results indicated that parents who used more authoritative parenting practices had lower levels of parental burnout and parents who favoured authoritarian and psychologically controlling parenting practices had higher levels of parental burnout. The relationship between authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices and parental burnout remained significant after controlling for demographic variables. Findings highlight the need to increase the attention given to parental burnout in order to enhance resources and reduce the risk factors. Future study is recommended to raise awareness and contribute to knowledge regarding how to best treat and prevent parental burnout.