A Step Forward in the Conceptualization and Measurement of Parental Burnout: The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA)

Abstract

So far, the conceptualization and measurement of parental burnout have been deduced from those of job burnout. As a result, it is unclear whether current measures of parental burnout constitute the best representation of the parental burnout construct/syndrome: the possibility cannot be excluded that some dimensions ought to be added, which would change the structure and definition of parental burnout. In this study, the conceptualization and measurement of parental burnout were approached using an inductive method, in which the parental burnout phenomenon was (re)constructed based solely on the testimonies of burned-out parents. Items extracted from their testimonies were presented to a sample of French-speaking and English-speaking parents (N = 901) and submitted to factor analyses. An identifiable parental burnout syndrome including four dimensions was found (exhaustion in one's parental role, contrast with previous parental self, feelings of being fed up with one's parental role and emotional distancing from one's children). The resulting instrument, the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) presents good validity. Factorial invariance across gender and languages was also found. Finally, the results of this study replicate previous findings that psychological traits of the parents, parenting factors, and family functioning account for more variance in parental burnout than sociodemographic factors.

Validation of a Chinese Version of the Parental Burnout Assessment

“…Based on these advantages, for the present study, we chose to translate the PBA into Chinese. Consistent with Roskam et al (2018), the present study hypothesized that the Chinese version of PBA also contains four factors, and the factor structure would be the same between fathers' and mothers' responses.…”

“…Thus, for Time 1, the sample size was 989, which satisfied Hinkin's (1998) recommendation regarding scale development. Based on the practice of Roskam et al (2018), CFA was conducted. First, the 23 items were loaded onto the four original factors, and the four factors were allowed to be correlated.…”

“…Fathers' parental burnout had positive correlations with fathers' emotional exhaustion (r = 0.451, p < 0.01), depersonalization (r = 0.521, p < 0.01), and neuroticism (r = 0.443, p < 0.01), and a negative correlation with fathers' agreeableness (r = −0.503, p < 0.01). Similarly, mothers' The numbers on the left represent the original order of the questions in the work of Roskam et al (2018). Items 3 and 7 were deleted.…”

“…For instance, because parents cannot "dehumanize" their children, depersonalization (a component of job burnout measured by the MBI) may not be suitable in the parenting context . Consequently, adopting an inductive approach, Roskam et al (2018) advanced the measurement of parental burnout by developing the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), which was designed to better represent the parental burnout construct. The PBA comprises four factors: "exhaustion in one's parental role, " "contrast with previous parental self, " "feeling fed up with one's parental role, " and "emotional distancing from one's children.…”

“…While the PBI and PBA are highly correlated, Roskam et al (2018) argued that the PBA had four advantages over the PBI. First, the PBA contained the factor "contrast with previous parental self, " which was an inherent notion of burnout not measured in the PBI.…”