Abstract
Purpose: The prevalence of parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children, varies dramatically across countries and is highest in Western countries characterized by high individualism. Method: In this study, we examined the mediators of the relationship between individualism measured at the country level and parental burnout measured at the individual level in 36 countries (16,059 parents). Results: The results revealed three mediating mechanisms, that is, self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, high agency and self-directed socialization goals, and low parental task sharing, by which individualism leads to an increased risk of burnout among parents. Conclusion: The results confirm that the three mediators under consideration are all involved, and that mediation was higher for self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, then parental task sharing, and lastly self-directed socialization goals. The results provide some important indications of how to prevent parental burnout at the societal level in Western countries.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 681-694 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 17 May 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2023.
Funding
IR and MM were supported by a Coordinated Research Grant from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles in Belgium (ARC Grant n°19/24-100). This fund did not exert any influence or censorship of any kind on the present work.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles in Belgium | |
| Australian Research Council | 19/24-100 |
| Australian Research Council |
Keywords
- Culture
- Exhaustion
- Fathers
- Individualism
- Mothers