Burnout and related factors in mothers of preschool children

Being a parent, in addition to its rewarding aspects, also involves significant psychological and physical challenges. When the balance between caregiving burden and support resources is disrupted, it becomes almost inevitable for mothers to experience burnout. We designed our study to investigate the factors related to burnout complaints in mothers of preschool children.

The sample of our study consisted of 80 mothers who presented to psychiatry clinics with burnout complaints and 80 healthy controls. Data collection tools included the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Parenting Stress Index, and the Spousal Support Scale. Scale scores were compared between the groups. The mediating role of the Spousal Support Scale (SSS) in the relationship between the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was tested using path analysis.

No statistically significant age difference was found between the two groups (p > 0.05). The number of children among participants in the burnout group was higher (p = 0.018).In the burnout group, a positive and statistically significant relationship was found between the total scores of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (r: 0.664; p: 0.000), and a negative and statistically significant relationship with the total score of the Spousal Support Scale (SSS) (r: -0.409; p: 0.000).The indirect effect of the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) through the Spousal Support Scale (SSS) was found to be statistically significant ( [Formula: see text] = -0.3294, p < 0.001).

Parental stress is associated with the level of burnout in mothers. However, spousal support may weaken the relationship between parental stress and burnout. Further research on the relationship between spousal support and burnout, as well as awareness projects related to spousal support, is needed.