Development and validation of the Brief Parental Burnout Scale (BPBS).

Abstract

Since parental burnout can have detrimental consequences for parents, couples, and children, easy-to-use, reliable, and valid practical tools for the early detection of parental burnout are required. We developed and validated a brief scale to identify burned-out parents and parents at burnout risk. In Study 1, we developed the 5-item Brief Parental Burnout scale (BPBs) based on the gold standard measure of parental burnout, the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). We applied Item Response Theory Graded Response Model (GRM) analyses on the data of 1,725 Finnish parents. Compared against the PBA total score, the five selected items showed both high sensitivity and specificity in screening parental burnout. As expected, burned-out parents and those at burnout risk according to the BPBs displayed higher depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, and more frequent sleep disruptions than nonburned-out parents. In Study 2, we tested the sensitivity and specificity of the BPBs by using both the BPBs and the PBA as independent assessment tools in a sample of 1,088 Finnish parents. In Study 3, the high sensitivity and specificity of the BPBs found in Study 2 were replicated in an independent sample of 104 Belgian parents. We further demonstrated the concurrent validity of the BPBs test score interpretations by showing that burned-out parents, or those at burnout risk, reported higher child neglect and parental violence than non-burnedout parents. Because of its user-friendliness and the strong psychometric properties of its test score, the BPBs is a good candidate to use as a screening tool for parental burnout.

Parenting During COVID‐19: A Study of Parents' Experiences Across Gender and Income Levels

“…Parental burnout was assessed using an adapted version of the validated Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA; Roskam et al, 2018). Due to space limitations, the measure was shortened from 23 to five items, in line with other recent adaptations of the PBA (Aunola et al, 2020). The response scale was modified from frequency over the course of a year to agreement (0 = strongly disagree to 6 = strongly agree ) to capture the presence of these feelings during the beginning of the pandemic, which had been ongoing for about a month at the time of data collection.…”

Validation of the Ukrainian version of the Parental Burnout Assessment

“…Malaysian researchers also found large positive correlation between PB and both neglect (r = 0.44) and violence (r = 0.53) ( Manja et al, 2020 ). Finnish researchers replicated these findings and found large positive correlation between PB and both neglect ( r = 0.58) and violence ( r = 0.54) ( Aunola et al, 2021 ). Based on these studies, we also expect large positive correlations between PBA-UA and these two variables.…”

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

“…Research on parental burnout is relatively new but has grown internationally in recent years ( Aguiar et al, 2021 ; Aunola et al., 2021 ; Chen et al, 2022 ; Mikolajczak et al, 2019 ; van Bakel et al, 2018 ). Future studies could identify risk factors contributing to parental burnout and explore the mechanisms through which they exert their influence.…”