Parenting Burnout Among Infants’ Mothers And Its Related Factors

Objectives:1.To investigate the current situation of parenting burnout among infants’ mothers(within one year after childbirth).2.From perspectives of maternal,infants,and family support,to explore factors related to maternal parenting burnout among infants’ mothers.Methods:Using a convenient sampling method,eligible women and their infants were recruited in the Outpatient Department of the Child Health Care of a tertiary hospital in Jinan,Shandong Province.Self-compiled general questionnaire,Parental Burnout Assessment(PBA),Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire(PRFQ),Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale(EPDS),The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form(PSI-SF-15)subdomain-Infant Difficult Type were used to evaluate the general condition of postpartum mothers,parenting burnout,reflective function,postpartum depressive symptoms,and infant difficult type,respectively.SPSS26.0 was used in all the statistical analysis.In the simple analysis,the relationship between parenting burnout and general demographic variables,maternal characteristics,infant characteristics,and family support was analyzed using independent t test and Chi-square test.Variables that had P value<0.2 were included in multivariate analysis.In the multivariate analysis,candidate variables in the previous step entered in the logistics regression model.The variable was selected when the P value of that variable was less than 0.05.Results:1.A total of 560 women responded to the survey,and the effectiveness rate of questionnaires was 96.1%.2.The positive rates of parenting burnout in the four dimensions:exhaustion of parental roles,self-comparison with previous parental roles,boredom of parental roles and emotional estrangement from children were 9.5%,9.1%,9.3%and 9.3%,respectively.3.The results of the univariate analysis showed that exhaustion of the parental role was statistically related to parenting support by the elders(F=20.46,P<0.001),pre-mentalization(F=-3.84,P<0.001),interest and curiosity about psychological states(F=4.16,P<0.001),maternal postpartum depression(F=-5.56,P<0.001)and infant difficulty(F=-4.14,P<0.001).Comparison with previous parental roles was statistically related to the average monthly household income(F=8.79,P=0.01),overall breastfeeding difficulty(F=13.26,P=0.01),prementalization(F=-4.27,P<0.001),interest and curiosity about psychological states(F=5.26,P<0.001),maternal postpartum depression(F=-4.80,P<0.001),and infant difficulty(F=-4.95,P<0.001).Boredom of parenting roles was statistically related to communication with other mothers about parenting knowledge(F=0.04,P=0.05),pre-mentalization(F=-3.17,P=0.002),interest and curiosity about mental states(F=5.93,P<0.001),maternal postpartum depression(F=-4.65,P<0.001),and infant difficulty(F=-3.72,P<0.001).Emotional estrangement from children was statistically related with maternal education status(F=11.13,P=0.01),prementalization(F=-5.11,P<0.001),interest and curiosity about mental states(F=5.87,P<0.001),maternal postpartum depression(F=-4.74,P<0.001),and infant difficulty(F=-4.00,P<0.001).4.Binary logistic regression models showed that pre-mentalization(OR=0.54,95%CI:0.39-0.74)was a protective factor for exhaustion of the parental role;infant difficulty(OR=1.09,95%CI:1-1.18),interest and curiosity about mental states(OR=1.71,95%CI:1.18-2.46)are risk factors for exhaustion of the parental role.Interest and curiosity about mental states(OR=0.38,95%CI:0.26 to 0.56)were protective factors for self-comparison with previous parental roles,while pre-mentalization(OR=1.96,95%CI:1.29-2.98),maternal postpartum depression(OR=1.16,95%CI:1.07-1.25)and infant difficulty(OR=1.10,95%CI:1.00-1.21)were risk factors for self-comparison with previous roles.Interest and curiosity about mental states(OR=0.40,95%CI:0.28 to 0.57)was a protective factor for the boredom of parental roles;pre-mentalization(OR=1.92,95%CI:1.30 to 2.84)and maternal postpartum depression(OR=1.16,95%CI:1.07 to 1.25)were risk factors for the boredom of parental roles.Interest and curiosity about mental states was a protective factor for emotional estrangement from children(OR=0.34,95%CI:0.23 to 0.50),pre-mentalization(OR=2.74,95%CI:1.79 to 4.194),and maternal postpartum depression(OR=1.19,95%CI:1.10 to 1.29)were risk factors for emotional estrangement from children.Conclusion:1.Maternal parenting burnout within one year after childbirth was common,which called on more attention paid by public health departments and other members of the family.2.Maternal reflective function,postpartum depressive symptom and infant difficulty were the influencing factors of different dimensions of maternal parenting burnout.When developing appropriate interventions for parental burnout,attention should be paid not only to maternal psychological characteristics such as reflective function and postpartum depression symptoms,but also to infant-related temperament in order to tailor interventions to different populations.