A1 Journal article (refereed)
Parental Burnout Across the Globe During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)

van Bakel, H., Bastiaansen, C., Hall, R., Schwabe, I., Verspeek, E., Gross, J. J., Brandt, J. A., Aguiar, J., Akgun, E., Arikan, G., Aunola, K., Bajgarová, Z., Beyers, W., Bílková, Z., Boujut, E., Chen, B.-B., Dorard, G., Escobar, M. J., Furutani, K., . . . Roskam, I. (2022). Parental Burnout Across the Globe During the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Perspectives in Psychology, 11(3), 141-152. https://doi.org/10.1027/2157-3891/a000050

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: van Bakel, Hedwig; Bastiaansen, Coco; Hall, Ruby; Schwabe, Inga; Verspeek, Emmie; Gross, James J.; Brandt, Julie Ackerlund; Aguiar, Joyce; Akgun, Ege; Arikan, Gizem; et al.

Journal or series: International Perspectives in Psychology

ISSN: 2157-3883

eISSN: 2157-3891

Publication year: 2022

Volume: 11

Issue number: 3

Pages range: 141-152

Publisher: Hogrefe Publishing Group

Publication country: Germany

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1027/2157-3891/a000050

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/85703

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all societies worldwide. The heightened levels of stress that accompanied the crisis were also expected to affect parenting in many families. Since it is known that high levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to a condition that has severe consequences for health and well-being, we examined whether the prevalence of parental burnout in 26 countries (9,923 parents; 75% mothers; mean age 40) increased during COVID-19 compared to few years before the pandemic. In most (but not all) countries, analyses showed a significant increase in the prevalence of parental burnout during the pandemic. The results further revealed that next to governmental measures (e.g., number of days locked down, homeschooling) and factors at the individual and family level (e.g., gender, number of children), parents in less (vs. more) indulgent countries suffered more from parental burnout. The findings suggest that stricter norms regarding their parenting roles and duties in general and during the pandemic in particular might have increased their levels of parental burnout.

Keywords: pandemics; COVID-19; parents; parenthood; families; family life; well-being; exhaustion; stress (biological phenomena); managing; effects (results); working life; time use; combining; global problems

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022