Who are and are not the burnout moms? A cluster analysis study of French-speaking mothers

Abstract Background : Chronic stress in parenthood can lead to difficulties for parents, including parental burnout. Parental burnout is defined by four dimensions: emotional exhaustion, emotional distancing, feeling fed-up, and contrast in parental self. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to identify the profiles of at-risk mothers for parental burnout. Methods : One thousand three hundred and six French-speaking mothers, aged over 18 years with at least one child living regularly at home, completed an online set of questionnaires. The mothers responded to the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Brief Burden Interview (BBI), the Triangular Love Scale (TLS), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results : Cluster analysis revealed five profiles based on the score levels on the four dimensions of parental burnout. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the five clusters significantly differed on the affective variables (i.e., depression, anxiety, postnatal depression, burden), love in couple relationship, and sociodemographic variables. The results highlighted that all the variables are associated with two extreme groups (Absence of Parental Burnout and Very High Manifestations of Parental Burnout). Limitations : The cross-sectional design did not allow the identification of the directional nature of the association between the independent variables and the five clusters. Conclusions : The mothers’ five profiles based on the level of parental burnout manifestations enabled the identification of mothers with greater difficulties, contributing to the design of specific primary prevention and therapeutic interventions for parental burnout.