Structural Inequities in Self-compassion and Parental Burnout

Emily Kroshus; Matt Hawrilenko; Pooja S Tandon; Anne Browning; Mary Kathleen Steiner; Dimitri A Christakis

doi:10.1007/s12671-023-02104-9

Structural Inequities in Self-compassion and Parental Burnout

Mindfulness (N Y). 2023;14(5):1192-1203. doi: 10.1007/s12671-023-02104-9. Epub 2023 Apr 19.

Authors

Emily Kroshus^{1

2}, Matt Hawrilenko³, Pooja S Tandon^{1

2}, Anne Browning⁴, Mary Kathleen Steiner¹, Dimitri A Christakis^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, 1920 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195 USA.
⁴ School of Medicine, University of Washington, 1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle, WA 98195 USA.

Abstract

Objectives: When parenting-related stressors and coping resources are chronically imbalanced, there is risk of parental burnout, and consequent negative impact on parent and child wellbeing. The objective of this study was to determine the relations between structural and social determinants of health inequities, self-compassion (a theoretically indicated coping practice), and parental burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: Participants were parents (n = 2324) with at least one child aged 4-17 in the household recruited from NORC's AmeriSpeak Panel (a probability-based panel providing coverage of 97% of the US household population). Parents completed an online or telephone questionnaire in English or Spanish in December 2020. Structural equation modeling was used to test a system of relations between income, race and ethnicity, parental burnout, and parent and child mental health. Indirect effects and moderation by self-compassion were also tested.

Results: On average, parents experienced symptoms of burnout several days per week. Symptoms were the most frequent among parents with the least income, as well as female-identified and Asian parents. More self-compassion was associated with less parental burnout, and fewer parent and child mental health difficulties. Black and Hispanic parents were more self-compassionate compared to white parents, helping to explain similar levels of parental burnout and relatively better mental health outcomes, despite comparatively more stressors.

Conclusions: Self-compassion is a potentially promising target for interventions aiming to address parental burnout; however, such efforts must not detract from critical structural changes to reduce parenting stressors, particularly those impacting parents experiencing systemic racism and other forms of socioeconomic disadvantage.

Preregistration: This study is not preregistered.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-023-02104-9.

Keywords: Burnout; Parenting; Self-compassion; Social determinants of health.

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