Parental burnout in Brazil: assessment and intervention perspectives

Abstract

Despite its importance, parenting can also cause negative feelings of exhaustion. This happens when there is a chronic imbalance between personal resources and stressors related to the parental context, which can result in conditions such as parental burnout (PB). Thus, it is necessary to better understand this construct and its relationships, including fathers' perspective and considering different cultural contexts. Given the expertise of Prof. Roskam in this area, this project has four main objectives, related to PB understanding, assessment and intervention, considering diverse cultural contexts (such as the Brazilian one). These objectives are: (a) to evaluate the processes related to parenting and PB, for Brazilian fathers and mothers, (b) to understand how to access the fathers' perspective on PB, (c) to learn about experience sampling methodology (ESM) measures and their application in the evaluation of family variables, and (d) keep up with projects that can guide interventions on PB. To achieve these goals, in addition to participating in Prof. Roskam's research group, data from 600 Brazilian parents (200 fathers) with preschool and primary school children will also be used. These parents answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and Portuguese versions of the Inventory of Father Involvement, the Emotional Self-Regulation Scale, the short version of the Coparental Relationship Scale, and the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). The relations between variables will be estimated with structural equation modeling techniques. Exploratory and internal structure analyzes of the PBA will also be carried out. After the internship abroad, it is expected the dissemination of important knowledge in Brazil, on: inductive assessment techniques from the fathers' perspective on PB, ESM methods for assessing family variables, and ideas about themes and procedures on intervention to minimize the negative effects of parenting. Future partnerships between the research centers are also expected. (AU)