
Background: Becoming a parent is one of the most significant experiences in a woman's life. Including substantial and long-lasting mental, social, and physical charge, the parenting experience may also be a potentially stressful and overwhelming task. Since the eighties, the notion of parental burnout syndrome has gained increasing attention, but its contextual and psychological factors need to be better identified. Aims: To investigate a large array of contextual and psychological factors associated with maternal burnout syndrome in a French community-based population in order to contribute to better operationalize the notion of parental burnout and to explore its determinants. Method: A total of 304 French-speaking mothers (mean age = 34.8 years, SD = 6.72) completed a set of questionnaires including a sociodemographic form (in order to gather general information about the mothers, their spouses, and children living at home). The Perceived Stress Scale, the Maslach Burnout Inventory adapted to parents (MBI-parental), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Parental Stress Index-Short Form and the Ways of Coping Checklist were used in this study. Results: Multivariate linear regression analyses revealed that scores on the MBI-parental version were strongly and positively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as with perceived stress related to parenthood and parenting stress levels. Moreover, using the task-oriented coping style in parenthood was strongly and positively associated with personal accomplishment. Conversely, some sociodemographic characteristics were found to be negatively associated with maternal burnout: being employed, working full time and being a mother living without a coparent. Conclusion: The construct of maternal burnout syndrome seems to be linked to a conjunction of psychological and contextual factors associated with maternal exhaustion. The implication of the results for prevention and intervention strategies are discussed.
associated factors, anxiety, BF1-990, coping, maternal burnout, depression, parenting stress, Psychology, [SHS] Humanities and Social Sciences
associated factors, anxiety, BF1-990, coping, maternal burnout, depression, parenting stress, Psychology, [SHS] Humanities and Social Sciences
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 87 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 1% | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Top 10% |
