The Mechanisms of Parental Burnout Affecting Adolescents’ Problem Behavior

Yin Yuan, Wei Wang, Tingting Song and Yongxin Li ()
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Yin Yuan: Institute of Psychology and Behavior, Henan University, Jinming Avenue, Kaifeng 475000, China
Wei Wang: Institute of Psychology and Behavior, Henan University, Jinming Avenue, Kaifeng 475000, China
Tingting Song: Institute of Psychology and Behavior, Henan University, Jinming Avenue, Kaifeng 475000, China
Yongxin Li: Institute of Psychology and Behavior, Henan University, Jinming Avenue, Kaifeng 475000, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: Parental burnout refers to the feelings of extreme exhaustion that many parents experience due to parenting. Although parental burnout has received considerable interest from researchers, the effects and mechanisms of parental burnout on adolescents’ physical and psychological development remain largely unknown. This study investigated the relationship between parental burnout and adolescents’ problem behaviors in Chinese families. We explored the mediating roles of family function, parental psychological aggression, and adolescent self-control, as well as the moderating role of co-parenting. Questionnaires were distributed to 600 adolescents and their primary caregivers, and the data were collected on three different occasions. In total, 174 paired participants completed the survey (44.9% boys; Mean-age = 14.18 years). Bootstrapping results showed that parental burnout was positively associated with adolescents’ problem behavior. In addition, family function, parental psychological aggression, and adolescent self-control mediated the relationship between parental burnout and adolescents’ problem behavior. Co-parenting moderated the effects of parental burnout on family function and parental psychological aggression. The result of structural equation modeling (SEM) generally supported the above results. These findings reveal the negative effects and mechanisms of parental burnout on adolescent problem behavior, providing empirical evidence that can be applied to prevent the negative effects of parental burnout.

Keywords: parental burnout; problem behavior; family functioning; psychological aggression; self-control; co-parenting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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