Keywords
depression
parenting attitudes
coping styles
parenting burnout
How to Cite
Abstract
Aim: The aim of the study was to analyse the relationship between parental burnout and parental attitudes taking into account the mediating role of alexithymia, depression and coping strategies. Parental attitudes defined on the dimensions of acceptance, autonomy, demands and inconsistency are related to the level of parental burnout towards own children. Alexithymia, depression and an emotion-focused coping style were assumed to be important contributory factors.
Method: The study was conducted with 112 parents (M = 39.16; SD = 5.39) with children aged 3 to 15 years. The following questionnaires were used to verify the research hypotheses: Parental Burnout Assessment Questionnaire (PBA); Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20); Retrospective Parental Bonding Questionnaire (KPR-Roc), Beck Depression Scale (BDI), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS).
Results: Statistical analyses revealed a relationship between mother’s parenting attitude and parental burnout. Furthermore, alexithymia, depression and coping styles were found to be significantly related to parental burnout. What followed was an analysis of the mediating effect of the aforementioned variables on the relationship between retrospective parenting attitudes on the part of mothers and parental burnout. A multiple mediation analysis was performed using a custom macro for SPSS PROCESS (Hayes,2018), which was found to be statistically significant for demands, inconsistency, and autonomy and acceptance on the part of the mother. Significant mediators in each model were alexithymia, depression, and emotion-focused coping style. Similar relationships were not demonstrated for the relationship with the father.
Conclusions: The study indicates that there are strong relationships between mother’s parenting attitudes and parental burnout towards their own children. Alexithymia, depression and emotion-focused coping style increase the risk of parental burnout.
References
Ainsworth, M.S. (1989). Attachments beyond infancy, American Psychologist, 4 (44), 709–716.
Alarcon, G., Eschleman, K.J., Bowling, N.A. (2009). Relationships between personality variables and burnout: A meta-analysis, Work & stress, 23, 244-263.
Avagianou, P.A., Zafiropoulou, M. (2008). Parental bonding and depression: personality as
a mediating factor, International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 3 (20), 261-269.
Bagby, M., Taylor, G.J. (2000). An overview of the alexithymia construct, (in:) R. Bar- On, J.D. Parker (eds.), The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence, 263-276, Sun Francisco: Jossey- Bass.
Basaran, A., Karadavut, K.I., Uneri, S., O., Balbaloglu, O., Atasoy, N. (2013). The effect of having a children with cerebral palsy on quality of life, burn-out, depression and anxiety scores: a comparative study, European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 49, 815-822.
Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation: Anxiety and anger, London Hogarth Press.
Enns, M.W., Cox, B.J., Clara, I. (2002). Parental bonding and adult psychopathology results from the US national co- morbidity survey, Psychological Medicine, 32, 997–1008.
Gillath, O., & Shaver, P.R. (2007). Effects of attachment style and relationship context on selection among relational strategies. Journal of Research in Personality, 4 (41), 968-976.
Hayes, A.F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation and conditional process analysis:
A regression - based approach, New York. NY: Guilford Press.
Jones, J.D., Brett, B.E., Ehrlich, K.B., Lejuez, C.W., Cassidy, J. (2014). Maternal attachment style and responses to adolescents’ negative emotions: the mediating role of maternal emotion regulation, Parenting: Science and Practice, 3-4 (14), 235–257.
Lazarus, R.S., Folkman, S. (1984). Stres, Appraisal and Coping. New York, NY: Springer.
Łojek, E., & Stańczak, J. (2019). Inwentarz Depresji Becka – drugie wydanie (Beck Depression Inventory – second edition; BDI-II). Warszawa: Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych.
Lebert-Charron, A., Dorard, G., Boujut, E., Wendland, J. (2018). Maternal Burnout Syndrom: Contextual and Psychological Associated Factors, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00885.
Liberska, H., Suwalska, H. (2011). Styl przywiązania a relacje partnerskie we wczesnej dorosłości, Psychologia Rozwojowa, 1 (16), 25-39.
Masoumeh, M., Alavinezhad, R. (2016). Relationship of Alexithymia to Adult Attachment Styles and Self-Esteem among College Students, Journal of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Disorders, 1 (1), 6-14.
Mikolajczak, M., Raes, M.E., Avalosse, H., and Roskam, I. (2017). Exhausted parents: sociodemographic, child-related, parent-related, parenting and family functioning correlates of parental burnout, Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 602–614, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0892-4.
Mikolajczak, M., Raes, M.E., Avalosse, H., and Roskam, I. (2018). Exhausted parents: sociodemographic, child-related, parent-related, parenting and family functioning correlates of parental burnout, Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 602–614. doi: 10.1007/s10826-017-0892-4.
Mikolajczak, M., Roskam, I. (2018). A Theoretical and Clinical Framework for Parental Burnout: The Balance Between Risks and Resources (BR2), Frontiers in Psychology,
, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00886.
Najmi, B., Heidari, Z., Feizi, A., Hovsepian, S., Momeni, F., Masood Azhar, S. M. (2017). Do psychological characteristic of mothers predict parenting stress? A cross-sectional study among mothers of children with different disabilities, Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 32, 396-402. doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2017.12.004.
Parker, J.D., Bagby, R.M., Taylor, G.J., Endler, N.S., Schmitz, P. (1993). Factorial validity of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, European Journal of Personality, 4 (7),221–232. John Wiley & Sons.
Picardi, A., Toni, A., Caroppo, E. (2005). Stability of Alexithymia and Its Rela- tionships with the ‘Big Five’ Factors, Temperament, Character, and Attachment Style, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 74, 371–378.
Pines, A., Aronson, E. (1988). Career burnout: Causes and cures, New York: Free Press.
Plopa M. (2008), Kwestionariusz Retrospektywnej Oceny Postaw Rodziców (KPR-Roc). Podręcznik. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Vizja PRESS & IT.
Riva, R., Forinder, U., Arvidson, J., Mellgren, K., Toporski, J., Winiarski, J. et. Al (2014). Patterns of psychological responses in parents of children, Psychooncology, 23, 1307-1313. doi: 10.1002/pon.3567.
Roskam, I., Brianda, M. E., Mikolajczak, M., (2018). A Step Forward in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Parental Burnout: The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), Frontiers in Psychology, 9, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00758.
Roskam, I., Raes, M.E., and Mikolajczak, M. (2017). Exhausted parents: development and preliminary validation of the Parental Burnout Inventory, Frontiers in Psychology, 8, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00163.
Smith, K.H., Adams, S., Symons, D.K. (2015). Adult attachment style and caregiver attitudes after raising a virtual child, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407515616710.
Szczepaniak, P., Strelau, J., Wrześniewski, K. (1996). Diagnoza stylów radzenia sobie ze stresem za pomocą polskiej wersji kwestionariusza CISS Endlera i Parkera, Przegląd Psychologiczny, 39, 187-210.
Szczygieł, D., Sekulowicz, M., Kwiatkowski, P., Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2020). Validation of the Polish version of the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20385.
Ścigała, D.K., Zdankiewicz-Ścigała, E., Bedyńska, S., & Kokoszka, A. (2020). Psychometric properties and configural invariance of the polish–language version of the 20-item toronto alexithymia scale in non-clinical and alcohol addict persons, Frontiers in Psychology, 11, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01241.
Unal, G. (2004). Evaluation of avoidance, alexithymia and self-esteem in a group of university youth, Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 7, 215-222.
Van Bakel, H.J.A., Van Engen, M.L., Peters, P. (2018). Validity of the Parental Burnout Inventory Among Dutch Employees, Frontiers in Psychology, 9, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00697.
Varghese, R.T., Venkatesan, S., (2013). A Comparative Study of Maternal Burnout in Autism and Hearing Impairment, International Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry, 1, doi: https://doi.org/10.5958/j.2320-6233.1.2.016.
Zdankiewicz-Ścigała, E., Sikora, J., Ścigała, D. (2018). Postawy rodzicielskie a skłonność do impulsywnej agresji. Mediacyjna rola aleksytymii, Psychologia Wychowawcza, 14, 134-154, doi: https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0012.8286.