Parental burnout and depression among Iranian mothers: The mediating role of Maladaptive Coping modes

Abstract

Objective Depression in mothers impacts children negatively. Understanding the antecedents and the underlying mechanisms of depression is essential in helping clinicians target depressive symptoms effectively. This study investigated the relationship between parental burnout and depression in mothers and examined the mediation role of Maladaptive Coping modes. Method A total of 224 mothers participated in this study and completed the Parental Burnout Assessment scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, and items related to coping modes in Schema Mode Inventory. Results Data analysis with structural equation modeling revealed that depression and parental burnout were positively and significantly related. Bootstrap analysis showed that all coping modes except the Self‐Aggrandizer mode act as mediators between parental burnout and depression in mothers. Detached Protector mode had the strongest indirect effect on depression. Conclusion The results suggest Maladaptive Coping modes mediate the association between parental burnout and depression. The present finding provides evidence that Maladaptive Coping modes can be considered probable mediational mechanisms that relate depression to parental burnout in mothers and may serve as potential interventional targets.

A systematic review of parental burnout and related factors among parents

“…As regards the parents themselves, parental burnout can not only give rise to suicidal and escape ideations [5], but also may lead to external problems such as substance and behavioral addictions and sleep disorders [6]. Prolonged exposure to this negative state results in a significant decrease in the individual's life satisfaction and subjective well-being, and is highly likely to lead to depressive symptoms [7][8][9][10]. At the biological level, parental burnout leads to a dysregulation in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis [11], which is most likely causally implicated in the somatic complaints and sleep difficulties experienced by burntout parents and may also be possibly associated with the rise in child-directed aggression [12].…”