Michalina Dzielińska

The aim of the article is to present the concept of parental burnout, which has recently become a topic of interest for researchers. In the article, we review the theoretical concept of pa-rental burnout, present the questionnaires to measure it as well as the research results indicating risk factors and consequences of parental burnout, and the first studies on the effectiveness of psychological interventions to reduce it. This article presents information in a concise, simple and understandable way, providing readers with a quick overview of the theory of parental burnout and the latest research on this phenomenon.

The purpose of this study was to assess the severity of parental burnout among parents of children with disabilities and chronic illness. It was hypothesized that these parents would be characterized by higher levels of parental burnout and that their child’s disability and chronic illness would moderate the relationship of parental burnout with sociodemographic factors. The study was conducted with 254 parents (M_age = 35.37 years; SD_age = 5.80) with children aged one month to 35 years; 22% of parents had a child with a disability or chronic illness. The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) questionnaire was used to verify the research hypotheses. The correlation analyses showed that parents of children with disabilities had higher levels of parental burnout, and as the degree of constraints related to the child’s difficulties increased, the level of parental burnout increased. The moderation analyses proved to be statistically significant for the relationship between the number of children and parental burnout. Similar relationships were not found concerning the relationship of parental burnout with the fact of having a child under five or the gender of the parent. The study indicated that there are relationships between having a child with a disability or chronic illness, the degree of their limitations, and parental burnout.

The purpose of this study was to assess the severity of parental burnout among parents of children with disabilities and chronic illness. It was hypothesized that parents of children with disabilites/ilnesses would be characterized by higher levels of parental burnout and that their child’s disability and chronic illness would moderate the relationship of parental burnout with sociodemographic factors. The study was conducted with 254 parents (M_age = 35.37; SD_age = 5.80) with children aged from 1 month to 35 years, 22% of whom had a child with a disability or chronic illness. The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) questionnaire was used to verify the research hypotheses. The correlation analyses conducted showed that parents of children with disabilities had higher levels of parental burnout, and as the degree of constraints related to the child’s difficulties increased, the level of parental burnout increased. The results of moderation analyses showed that the relationship between the number of children and parental burnout was statistically significant. Similar relationships were not found concerning the relationship of parental burnout and having a child under five or the gender of the parent. The study indicates that there are relationships between having a child with a disability or chronic illness, the degree of their impairment, and parental burnout.