Abstract
Parental burnout emerges as a response to chronic and overwhelming parenting stress and is related to dysfunctional parenting practices, such as neglectful or violent behavior. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory, the current study aims to evaluate parenting stress as an antecedent and the more general quality of parenting as an outcome of parental burnout. This objective is tackled within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which posed major challenges to parents, especially to those raising children with complex care needs (CCN; i.e., an intellectual and/or physical disability, and/or behavioral and/or emotional problems). Therefore, this study explores mean-level group differences in parenting stress, parental burnout, and parenting behaviors between parents raising children with and without CCN, and tests whether associations between these variables are similar for both groups of parents. A group of 506 parents (88% mothers, Mage = 44 years) participated in a widespread online survey during the first lockdown in Belgium. Based on mean-level differences, parents of children with CCN reported substantially higher levels of parenting stress and parental burnout but scored similarly on the assessed parenting behaviors. Multigroup structural equation models showed that in both groups, parenting stress was related positively to parental burnout which, in turn, was related to less autonomy-supportive and responsive parenting and to more psychologically controlling parenting. Although raising a child with CCN may be a risk factor for increased parental stress and burnout, the functional role of these parental experiences in the quality of parenting appears to be similar across both groups of parents.
Highlights
-
This study examines associations between parenting stress, parental burnout, and parenting behaviors during COVID-19.
-
Parenting stress positively related to parental burnout which, in turn, related to less need-supportive and more need-thwarting parenting.
-
Although parents of children with CCN experienced more parental stress and burnout, they did not display lower quality of parenting.
-
The role of parental stress and burnout in the quality of parenting was similar across parents of children with and without CCN.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
The anonymized data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Adams, E. L., Smith, D., Caccavale, L. J., & Bean, M. K. (2021). Parents are stressed! Patterns of parent stress across COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 626456. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.626456.
Allen, M. S., Iliescu, D., & Greiff, S. (2022). Single item measures in psychological science: A call to action. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 38(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000699.
Aran, A., Shalev, R. S., Biran, G., & Gross-Tsur, V. (2007). Parenting style impacts on quality of life in children with cerebral palsy. The Journal of Pediatrics, 151(1), 56–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2007.02.011.
Asbury, K., Fox, L., Deniz, E., Code, A., & Toseeb, U. (2021). How is COVID-19 affecting the mental health of children with special educational needs and disabilities and their families? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 51, 1772–1780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04577-2.
Barber, B. K. (1996). Parental psychological control: Revisiting a neglected construct. Child Development, 67, 3296–3319. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01915.
Bayat, M. (2007). Evidence of resilience in families of children with autism. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 51, 702–714. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2007.00960.x.
Blacher, J., Baker, B. L., & Kaladjian, A. (2013). Syndrome specificity and mother–child interactions: Examining positive and negative parenting across contexts and time. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(4), 761–774. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1605-x.
Brenning, K., Soenens, B., Van Petegem, S., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2015). Perceived maternal autonomy support and early adolescent emotion regulation: A longitudinal study. Social Development, 24(3), 561–578. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12107.
Brianda, M. E., Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2020a). Hair cortisol concentration as a biomarker of parental burnout. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 117, 104681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104681.
Brianda, M. E., Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2020b). Psychoneuroendocrinology research is needed on parental burnout: A response to Walther, Walther, and Heald’s comment on hair cortisol concentration as a biomarker of parental burnout. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 119, 104786.
Brianda, M. E., Roskam, I., Gross, J. J., Franssen, A., Kapala, F., Gérard, F., & Mikolajczak, M. (2020). Treating parental burnout: Impact of two treatment modalities on burnout symptoms, emotions, hair cortisol, and parental neglect and violence. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 89(5), 330–332. https://doi.org/10.1159/000506354.
Brown, S. M., Doom, J. R., Lechuga-Peña, S., Watamura, S. E., & Koppels, T. (2020). Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Child Abuse & Neglect, 110(2), 104699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104699.
Cacioppo, M., Bouvier, S., Bailly, R., Houx, L., Lempereur, M., & Pons, C. (2021). Emerging health challenges for children with physical disabilities and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic: The ECHO French survey. Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 64(3), 101429. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rehab.2020.08.001.
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_5.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 155–159. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155.
Craig, F., Operto, F. F., De Giacomo, A., Margari, L., Frolli, A., Conson, M., Ivagnes, S., Monaco, M., & Margari, F. (2016). Parenting stress among parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Psychiatry Research, 242, 121–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2016.05.016.
Davidov, M., & Grusec, J. E. (2006). Untangling the links of parental responsiveness to distress and warmth to child outcomes. Child Development, 77(1), 44–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00855.
Davis, K., & Gavidia-Payne, S. (2009). The impact of child, family, and professional support characteristics on the quality of life in families of young children with disabilities. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, 34, 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668250902874608.
Deater-Deckard, K., & Panneton, R. (2017). Unearthing the developmental and intergenerational dynamics of stress in parent and child functioning. In K. Deater-Deckard & R. Panneton (Eds.), Parental Stress and Early Child Development: Adaptive and Maladaptive Outcomes (pp. 1–11). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55376-4_1
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01.
Deci, E. L., La Guardia, J. G., Moller, A. C., Scheiner, M. J., & Ryan, R. M. (2006). On the benefits of giving as well as receiving autonomy support: Mutuality in close friendships. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(3), 313–327. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167205282148.
De Clercq, L., Prinzie, P., Warreyn, P., Soenens, B., Dieleman, L. M., & De Pauw, S. S. W. (2022). Expressed emotion in families of children with and without autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome: Relations with parenting stress and parenting behaviors. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52, 1789–1806. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05075-9.
De Clercq, L., Van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Dieleman, L. M., Soenens, B., Prinzie, P., & De Pauw, S. S. W. (2019). Parenting and psychosocial development in youth with and without autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome: A cross-disability comparison. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 3(2), 220–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-019-00112-2.
de Haan, A. D., Soenens, B., Dekovic, M., & Prinzie, P. (2013). Effects of childhood aggression on parenting during adolescence: The role of parental psychological need satisfaction. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 42, 393–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2013.769171.
Dieleman, L. M., De Pauw, S. S., Soenens, B., Beyers, W., & Prinzie, P. (2017). Examining bidirectional relationships between parenting and child maladjustment in youth with autism spectrum disorder: A 9-year longitudinal study. Development and Psychopathology, 29(4), 1199–1213. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416001243.
Dieleman, L. M., Moyson, T., De Pauw, S. S. W., Prinzie, P., & Soenens, B. (2018). Parents’ need related experiences and behaviors when raising a child with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and Families, 42, 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2018.06.005.
Dieleman, L. M., Soenens, B., Prinzie, P., De Clercq, L., & De Pauw, S. S. W. (2021). Parenting children with cerebral palsy: A longitudinal examination of the role of child and parent factors. Exceptional Children, 87(3), 369–390. https://doi.org/10.1177/0014402920986462.
Dieleman, L. M., Soenens, B., Prinzie, P., De Clercq, L., Ortibus, E., & De Pauw, S. S. W. (2020). Daily parenting of children with cerebral palsy: The role of daily child behavior, parents’ daily psychological needs, and mindful parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419001688.
Dieleman, L. M., Van Vlaenderen, R., Prinzie, P., & De Pauw, S. S. W. (2019). Parents’ need-related experiences when raising an adolescent with cerebral palsy. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 3(2), 204–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-019-00111-3.
Dimitrov, D. M. (2010). Testing for factorial invariance in the context of construct validation. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 43(2), 121–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0748175610373459.
Evans, S., Mikocka-Walus, A., Klas, A., Olive, L., Sciberras, E., Karantzas, G., & Westrupp, E. M. (2020). From “It has stopped our lives” to “Spending more time together has strengthened bonds”: The varied experiences of Australian families during COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 588667. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588667.
Gérain, P., & Zech, E. (2018). Does informal caregiving lead to parental burnout? Comparing parents having (or not) children with mental and physical issues. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 884 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00884.
Grolnick, W. S., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2009). Issues and challenges in studying parental control: Toward a new conceptualization. Child Development Perspectives, 3, 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2009.00099.x.
Grolnick, W. S., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1991). Inner resources for school achievement: Motivational mediators of children’s perceptions of their parents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(4), 508–517.
Gupta, V. B. (2007). Comparison of parenting stress in different developmental disabilities. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 19(4), 417–425. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-007-9060-x.
Hayes, S. A., & Watson, S. L. (2013). The impact of parenting stress: A meta-analysis of studies comparing the experience of parenting stress in parents of children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(3), 629–642. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-012-1604-y.
Heinonen, A., & Ellonen, N. (2013). Are children with disabilities and long-term illnesses at increased risk of disciplinary violence? Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 14(2), 172–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/14043858.2013.794999.
Hibbard, R. A., & Desch, L. W. (2007). Maltreatment of children with disabilities. Pediatrics, 119(5), 1018–1025. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2007-0565.
Hochman, Y., Shpigelman, C. N., Holler, R., & Werner, S. (2022). “Together in a pressure cooker”: Parenting children with disabilities during the COVID-19 lockdown. Disability and Health Journal, 15(3), 101273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2022.101273.
Hodapp, R. M., Casale, E. G., & Sanderson, K. A. (2019). Parenting children with intellectual disabilities. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of Parenting: Children and Parenting (pp. 565–596). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429440847-17
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1(6), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118.
Hubert, S., & Aujoulat, I. (2018). Parental burnout: When exhausted mothers open up. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1021. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01021.
Janssen, L. H. C., Kullberg, M. J., Verkuil, B., van Zwieten, N., Wever, M. C. M., van Houtum, L. A. E. M., Wentholt, W. G. M., & Elzinga, B. M. (2020). Does the COVID-19 pandemic impact parents’ and adolescents’ well-being? An EMA-study on daily affect and parenting. PLoS One, 15(10), e0240962. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240962.
Joussemet, M., Landry, R., & Koestner, R. (2008). A self-determination theory perspective on parenting. Canadian Psychology, 49, 194–200. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012754.
Kawamoto, T., Furutani, K., & Alimardani, M. (2018). Preliminary validation of Japanese version of the parental burnout inventory and its relationship with perfectionism. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 970. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00970.
Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. Guilford Press.
Ku, B., Stinson, J. D., & MacDonald, M. (2019). Parental behavior comparisons between parents of children with autism spectrum disorder and parents of children without autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 1445–1460. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01412-w.
Kwiatkowski, P., & Sekulowicz, M. (2017). Examining the relationship of individual resources and burnout in mothers of children with disabilities. International Journal of Special Education, 32(4), 823–841.
Le Vigouroux, S., Lebert-Charron, A., Wendland, J., Boujut, E., Scola, C., & Dorard, G. (2022). COVID-19 and parental burnout: Parents locked down but not more exhausted. Journal of Family Issues, 43(7), 1705–1720. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211030038.
Lebert-Charron, A., Dorard, G., Boujut, E., & Wendland, J. (2018). Maternal burnout syndrome: Contextual and psychological associated factors. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 885. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00885.
Lebow, J. L. (2020). Family in the age of COVID-19. Family Process, 59(2), 309–312. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12543.
Lindström, C., Åman, J., & Lindahl Norberg, A. (2011). Parental burnout in relation to sociodemographic, psychosocial and personality factors as well as disease duration and glycaemic control in children with Type 1 diabetes mellitus. Acta Paediatrica, 100(7), 1011–1017. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02198.x.
Mabbe, E., Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., van der Kaap-Deeder, J., & Mouratidis, A. (2018). Day-to-day variation in autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting: The role of parents’ daily experiences of need satisfaction and need frustration. Parenting Science Parenting, 18(2), 86–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2018.1444131.
Marchetti, D., Fontanesi, L., Mazza, C., Di Giandomenico, S., Roma, P., & Verrocchio, M. C. (2020). Parenting-related exhaustion during the Italian COVID-19 lockdown. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 45(10), 1114–1123. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsaa093.
McCartney, K., & Rosenthal, R. (2000). Effect size, practical importance, and social policy for children. Child Development, 71(1), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00131.
Mikkonen, K., Veikkola, H. R., Sorkkila, M., & Aunola, K. (2022). Parenting tyles of Finnish parents and their associations with parental burnout. Current Psychology, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03223-7.
Mikolajczak, M., & Roskam, I. (2018). A theoretical and clinical framework for parental burnout: The balance between risks and resources (BR2). Frontiers in Psychology, 9(886). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00886.
Mikolajczak, M., Brianda, M. E., Avalosse, H., & Roskam, I. (2018). Consequences of parental burnout: Its specific effect on child neglect and violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 80, 134–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.03.025.
Mikolajczak, M., Gross, J. J., & Roskam, I. (2019). Parental burnout: what is it, and why does it matter? Clinical Psychological Science, 7(6), 1319–1329. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702619858430.
Mikolajczak, M., Raes, M.-E., Avalosse, H., & Roskam, I. (2018). Exhausted parents: Sociodemographic, child-related, parent related, parenting and family-functioning correlates of parental burnout. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(2), 602–614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0892-4.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998-2017). Mplus User’s Guide (8th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
Neece, C., McIntyre, L. L., & Fenning, R. (2020). Examining the impact of COVID-19 in ethnically diverse families with young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 64(10), 739–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12769.
Nelson, S. K., Kushlev, K., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). The pains and pleasures of parenting: When, why, and how is parenthood associated with more or less well-being? Psychological Bulletin, 140(3), 846–895. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035444.
Nomaguchi, K., & Milkie, M. A. (2020). Parenthood and well‐being: A decade in review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 82(1), 198–223. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12646.
Peer, J. W., & Hillman, S. B. (2014). Stress and resilience for parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: A review of key factors and recommendations for practitioners. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 11(2), 92–98. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12072.
Pierce, M., Hope, H., Ford, T., Hatch, S., Hotopf, M., John, A., Kontopantelis, E., Webb, R., Wessely, S., McManus, S., & Abel, K. M. (2020). Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal probability sample survey of the UK population. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(10), 883–892. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30308-4.
Ping, Y., Wang, W., Li, Y., & Li, Y. (2022). Fathers’ parenting stress, parenting styles and children’s problem behavior: the mediating role of parental burnout. Current Psychology, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03667-x.
Pinquart, M. (2013). Do the parent-child relationship and parenting behaviors differ between families with a child with and without chronic illness? A meta-analysis. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 38(7), 708–721. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jst020.
Pinquart, M. (2017). Associations of parenting dimensions and styles with externalizing problems of children and adolescents: An updated meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology, 53(5), 873–932. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000295.
Povee, K., Roberts, L., Bourke, J., & Leonard, H. (2012). Family functioning in families with a child with Down syndrome: A mixed methods approach. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 56(10), 961–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2788.2012.01561.x.
Prime, H., Wade, M., & Browne, D. T. (2020). Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist, 75(5), 631–643. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000660.
Reutebuch, C. K., El Zein, F., & Roberts, G. J. (2015). A systematic review of the effects of choice on academic outcomes for students with autism spectrum disorder. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 20, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2015.08.002.
Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2020). Gender differences in the nature, antecedents and consequences of parental burnout. Sex Roles, 83(7), 485–498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01121-5.
Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2021). The slippery slope of parental exhaustion: A process model of parental burnout. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 77, 101354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2021.101354.
Roskam, I., Aguiar, J., Akgun, E., Arikan, G., Artavia, M., & Mikolajczak, M. (2021). Parental burnout around the globe: a 42-country study. Affective Science, 2, 58–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-020-00028-4.
Roskam, I., Brianda, M. E., & Mikolajczak, M. (2018). A step forward in the conceptualization and measurement of parental burnout: The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). Frontiers in psychology, 9, 758. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00758.
Roskam, I., Raes, M. E., Mikolajczak, M. (2017). Exhausted parents: Development and preliminary validation of the parental burnout inventory. Frontiers in Psychology, 163(8). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00163.
Roth, G., Assor, A., Niemiec, C. P., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2009). The emotional and academic consequences of parental conditional regard: Comparing conditional positive regard, conditional negative regard, and autonomy support as parenting practices. Developmental Psychology, 45, 1119–1142. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015272.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development and wellness. The Guilford Press.
Satorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (1994). Corrections to test statistics and standard errors in covariance structure analysis. In Latent variables analysis: Applications for developmental research. (pp. 399–419). Sage Publications, Inc.
Schaefer, E. S. (1965). Children’s reports of parental behavior: An inventory. Child Development, 36, 413–424. https://doi.org/10.2307/1126465.
Schittek, A., Roskam, I., & Mikolajczak, M. (2023). Parental burnout and borderline personality stand out to predict child maltreatment. Scientific Reports, 13, 12153. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39310-3.
Schrooyen, C., Soenens, B., Waterschoot, J., Vermote, B., Morbée, S., Beyers, W., Brenning, K., Dieleman, L., van der Kaap-Deeder, J., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2021). Parental identity as a resource for parental adaptation during the COVID-19 lockdown. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(8), 1053–1064. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000895.
Skinner, E. A., Wellborn, J. G., & Regan, C. (1986). The “Parents as Social Context Questionnaire” (PASCQ): Parent- and child-reports of parent involvement, structure, and autonomy support. (Tech Rep.). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester.
Soenens, B., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2010). A theoretical upgrade of the concept of parental psychological control: Proposing new insights on the basis of Self-Determination Theory. Developmental Review, 30(1), 74–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2009.11.001.
Soenens, B., Deci, E. L., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2017). How parents contribute to children’s psychological health: The critical role of psychological need support. In L. Wehmeyer, T. D. Little, S. J. Lopez, K. A. Shogren, & R. Ryan (Eds.), Development of self-determination through the life-course (pp. 171–187). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1042-6_13.
Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., & Beyers, W. (2019). Parenting adolescents. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (3rd ed., Vol. 1: Children and parenting, pp. 101–167). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429440847-4.
Soenens, B., Vansteenkiste, M., Lens, W., Luyckx, K., Goossens, L., Beyers, W., & Ryan, R. M. (2007). Conceptualizing parental autonomy support: Adolescent perceptions of promotion of independence versus promotion of volitional functioning. Developmental Psychology, 43(3), 633–646. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.3.633.
Valicenti-McDermott, M., Lawson, K., Hottinger, K., Seijo, R., Schechtman, M., Shulman, L., & Shinnar, S. (2015). Parental stress in families of children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Journal of Child Neurology, 30(13), 1728–1735. https://doi.org/10.1177/0883073815579705.
van Bakel, H. J., Van Engen, M. L., & Peters, P. (2018). Validity of the parental burnout inventory among Dutch employees. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 697. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00697.
van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Soenens, B., Mabbe, E., Dieleman, L., Mouratidis, A., Campbell, R., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2019). From daily need experiences to autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting via psychological availability and stress. Parenting, 19(3), 177–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2019.1615791.
van der Kaap-Deeder, J., Vansteenkiste, M., Soenens, B., Loeys, T., Mabbe, E., & Gargurevich, R. (2015). Autonomy-supportive parenting and autonomy-supportive sibling interactions: The role of mothers’ and siblings’ psychological need satisfaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(11), 1590–1604. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215602225.
Vansteenkiste, M., Ryan, R. M., & Soenens, B. (2020). Basic psychological need theory: Trends, critical themes, and future directions. Motivation and Emotion, 44, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-019-09818-1.
Ventola, P., Lei, J., Paisley, C., Lebowitz, E., & Silverman, W. (2017). Parenting a child with ASD: Comparison of parenting style between ASD, anxiety, and typical development. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(9), 2873–2884. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3210-5.
Vrolijk, P., Van Lissa, C. J., Branje, S. J., Meeus, W. H., & Keizer, R. (2020). Longitudinal linkages between father and mother autonomy support and adolescent problem behaviors: Between-family differences and within-family effects. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(11), 2372–2387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01309-8.
Whittingham, K., Wee, D., Sanders, M. R., & Boyd, R. (2013). Sorrow, coping and resiliency: Parents of children with cerebral palsy share their experiences. Disability and Rehabilitation, 35(17), 1447–1452. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2012.737081.
Willner, P., Rose, J., Kroese, B. S., Murphy, G. H., Langdon, P. E., Clifford, C., Hutchings, H., Watkins, A., Hiles, S., & Cooper, V. (2020). Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of carers of people with intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33(6), 1523–1533. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12811.
Funding
This research was partly funded by a grant from the Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) awarded to Eline Desimpelaere (11F5122N). The data collection of this large-scale study was funded by a BOF grant received for COVID-19 related research rewarded to Maarten Vansteenkiste (BOF.COV.2020.0007.01).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
J.W., M.V., S.M. and C.S. collected the data. E.D. executed the data analyses and wrote the main part of the paper. B.S. designed the study and collaborated thoroughly with the data analyses and writing of the paper. P.P. and S.D.P. assisted with the data analyses and collaborated in the writing of the manuscript. All authors collaborated in editing the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethics approval
The study was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at Ghent University, Belgium (nr. 2020/37).
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Desimpelaere, E.N., Soenens, B., Prinzie, P. et al. Parents’ Stress, Parental Burnout, and Parenting Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing Parents of Children with and without Complex Care Needs. J Child Fam Stud 32, 3681–3696 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02702-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02702-0