Reappraisal, social support, and parental burnout

Abstract

Objectives: Parental burnout is a prevalent condition that affects parents' functioning and health. While various protective factors have been examined, little is known about their interplay. In the current study, we examined the joint effect of two protective factors against parental burnout (one external—social support and one internal—cognitive reappraisal). We were specifically interested in whether the presence of one factor could compensate for the lack of the other. Methods: To address this question, 1835 participants were drawn from five countries: United States, Poland, Peru, Turkey and Belgium. Results: Results suggested that both social support and cognitive reappraisal were associated with lower parental burnout. An interaction was also found between the resource factors, such that the presence of cognitive reappraisal compensated for the absence of social support. Conclusions: These findings point to ways in which parental burnout could be reduced, especially in situations where social support is not easily available.