Parental Burnout During the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Parenting Stressors and Coparenting Support

Jenny Lee Vaydich; Rebecca Y M Cheung

doi:10.1177/10664807221123556

Parental Burnout During the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Parenting Stressors and Coparenting Support

Fam J Alex Va. 2023 Jul;31(3):432-442. doi: 10.1177/10664807221123556. Epub 2022 Sep 7.

Authors

Jenny Lee Vaydich¹, Rebecca Y M Cheung²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, USA.
² Department of Early Childhood Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many changes in family routines and introduced new stressors for parents. While stressors can lead to parental burnout, coparenting support may mitigate the effects of parental stress on parental burnout. The current study explored the effects of parental stress, COVID-19 stress, and coparenting support on parental burnout during the second year of the pandemic. Participants consisted of one hundred fifty-five parents in the USA (M = 39.6, SD = 7.38; female = 94.8%). Results suggested parental stress was positively associated with parental burnout while coparenting support was negatively associated with parental burnout. These findings highlight the importance of addressing parental stress and support to minimize the risk of parental burnout.

Keywords: COVID-19; coparenting support; parental burnout; parental stress.