why choose us

300×250 Ad Slot

Research Article: Parental Burnout in the Context of Special Needs, Adoption, and Single Parenthood

Date Published: 2023-06-29

Abstract:
Although early work on parental burnout in the 1980s did not link parental burnout to specific parenting situations, the idea that parents affected by specific vulnerability factors were particularly at risk of burnout quickly emerged. Based on the etiological model of parental burnout (i.e., the balance between risks and resources), the objective of this study was to investigate if there were specific vulnerability factors that significantly increase the risk of parental burnout. 2563 parents participated in the study. We compared parents with a child with special needs (n = 25), parents who had adopted a child (n = 130), and single parents (n = 109), to strictly matched control groups of parents. Parents with a child with special needs displayed higher burnout and lower balance between risk and resources than the control group; parents with an adopted child had similar levels of both parental burnout and balance; and single parents had higher parental burnout but similar balance. Parents who combined specific several vulnerability factors were at greater risk of burnout. Single parenthood and adoption do not in themselves trigger a process leading de facto to other risk factors, but having a child with special needs does.

Introduction:
It has previously been shown that parents who are chronically stressed in their parenting situation are more vulnerable to parental burnout, a disorder characterized by physical and/or emotional exhaustion as a parent, emotional distancing from children, feelings of being fed up in the parental role, and a sense of contrast with the previous parental self [1,2]. To what extent, if any, does having a child with special needs, having adopted a child, or being a single parent increase the risk of parental burnout?

Read more

300×250 Ad Slot