When not teaming up puts parents at risk: Coparenting and parental burnout in dual‐parent heterosexual families in Switzerland. Issue 1 (9th April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Favez, Nicolas; Max, Aline; Bader, Michel; Tissot, Hervé
• Is Part Of: Family process. Volume 62:Issue 1(2023)
• Page Start: 272
• Page End: 286
• Publication Date: 2022-04-09
• Subjects: coparenting -- endorsement of partner parenting -- exposure to conflict -- parental burnout; 共同养育子女 -- 父母的倦怠感 -- 冲突的暴露 -- 对伴侣的育儿的认可; Family psychotherapy -- Periodicals; Families -- Periodicals; 616.8915
• DOI: 10.1111/famp.12777
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0014-7370

Abstract

Abstract: Parental burnout refers to loss of energy and pleasure in the parental role. It is predictive of psychopathological outcomes in parents and dysfunctional parenting behaviors. Support of parental duties is central to alleviation of parental burden and prevention of burnout. Coparenting is the concept related to interparental mutual support in rearing a child. However, the links between coparenting and parental burnout have yet to be assessed. We thus aimed in this study to assess which dimensions of coparenting are linked with parental burnout. A total of 306 participants from the French‐speaking part of Switzerland (120 fathers, 186 mothers) completed online questionnaires about parental burnout, their coparental relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. We performed hierarchical regressions, entering sociodemographic characteristics in a first block and coparenting dimensions in a second block. Results showed that (i) a higher number of children and having younger children are linked to higher burnout; (ii) coparenting exposure to conflict is related to higher burnout, whereas endorsement of the partner's parenting is related to lower burnout; and (iii) no interaction effect occurs between sociodemographic characteristics and coparenting variables. Coparenting thus significantly contributes to the occurrence of burnout syndrome. Working on the coparental relationship preventively in parental educational programs or at a relational systemic level in therapy may help prevent burnout. Treating one parent only may not be sufficient to alleviate burnout, as negative coparenting could counter the effect of individual therapy. 摘要: 家长角色倦怠是指在担当父母的职责中精疲力竭，找不到乐趣。它可以预测家长的精神病理结果和异常的养育行为。对家长职责的支持非常重要，比如对于减轻家长们的负担和预防倦怠。共同养育是指在抚养孩子过程中父母间相互支持的概念。然而，共同抚养和父母角色倦怠之间的联系还有待评估。因此，本研究旨在评估亲子关系中与家长倦怠有关的维度。来自瑞士法语地区的306名参与者(120名父亲，186名母亲)完成了关于父母倦怠、父母关系和社会人口特征的在线调查问卷。我们进行了分层回归，在第一个区块中输入社会人口特征，在第二个区块中输入养育维度。研究结果表明:(1) 孩子数量越多，孩子年龄越小，父母倦怠程度越高; (2)冲突暴露与高倦怠水平相关，而一方认可伴侣的养育方式则另一方倦怠水平低; (3) 社会人口学特征与亲子关系变量之间不存在交互作用。因此，亲子关系极大地促进了父母角色倦怠综合征的发生。在家长教育计划中预防性地处理父母关系，或在治疗中，在关系系统层面上处理父母关系，可能有助于防止倦怠。仅仅治疗父母中的一方可能不足以缓解倦怠，因为消极的父母关系可能会抵消单个人治疗的效果。