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Parental burnout hits individualist Western countries hardest

Date:
March 18, 2021
Source:
Université catholique de Louvain
Summary:
It's a first: approximately 100 scientists in 42 countries joined forces to learn about the incidence of parental burnout. They found that Western countries are the most affected by parental burnout. The cause? The often individualistic culture of Western countries. This international study, shows how culture, rather than socio-economic factors, plays a predominant role in parental burnout.
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Does the incidence of parental burnout depend on a country's culture? This question was at the heart of the first international study on the subject for which hundreds of scientists in 42 countries mobilised. In other words, the global scientific community is worried about family stress-induced parental burnout. A high level of stress in the family can lead to parental exhaustion. Such suffering has serious consequences for both parents and children.

'We worked in close collaboration with scientists from all the cultures involved,' UCLouvain researchers and study initiators and coordinators Isabelle Roskam and Moïra Mikolajczak explained in a statement. 'They were the only ones capable of collecting data in their countries, guaranteeing their validity and interpreting them correctly. Such exceptional collaboration deserves to be highlighted.'

The study's findings are categorical: rich, individualistic Western countries, which on average have few children, are the most affected by the phenomenon. Culture, rather than socio-economic and demographic differences between countries, plays a predominant role in parental burnout. 'Prevalence varies greatly from one culture and country to another,' Prof. Roskam explains. 'We could have hypothesised that it would be the same everywhere but that the reasons for exhaustion would be different.' This is not the case.

Published in Affective Science, the study shows that the values of individualism in Western countries can subject parents to higher levels of stress. The results force us to question ourselves in a context where the mantra of "every one for oneself" is spreading all over the world.

'Our individualistic countries cultivate a cult of performance and perfectionism,' says Prof. Roskam, a parental burnout specialist. 'Parenthood in these countries is a very solitary activity, unlike in African countries, for example, where the entire village is involved in raising children.' These poorer countries, which often have many children, are more collectivist. This dimension seems to protect against parental burnout. In addition, Western individualism is exacerbated by the current health crisis: families find themselves isolated and cut off from their social relations.

What measures can be taken to prevent stress in parenting? 'The first would be to revive in our cultures the dimension of sharing and mutual aid among parents within a community,' Prof. Roskam says. 'And abandon the cult of the perfect parent and gain some perspective on all the parenting advice out there in order to choose what works for you.'

Thanks to the study consortium's collective dynamics, their work opens up many avenues for future intercultural investigations. Until now, all studies on parental burnout focused on personal factors. However, parents affected by this syndrome exercise their parenting in a particular cultural context. It is important to take this into account when treating symptoms.


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Materials provided by Université catholique de Louvain. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Isabelle Roskam, Joyce Aguiar, Ege Akgun, Gizem Arikan, Mariana Artavia, Hervé Avalosse, Kaisa Aunola, Michel Bader, Claire Bahati, Elizabeth J. Barham, Eliane Besson, Wim Beyers, Emilie Boujut, Maria Elena Brianda, Anna Brytek-Matera, Noémie Carbonneau, Filipa César, Bin-Bin Chen, Géraldine Dorard, Luciana Carla dos Santos Elias, Sandra Dunsmuir, Natalia Egorova, Nicolas Favez, Anne-Marie Fontaine, Heather Foran, Julia Fricke, Kaichiro Furutani, Laura Gallée, Myrna Gannagé, Maria Gaspar, Lucie Godbout, Amit Goldenberg, James J. Gross, Maria Ancuta Gurza, Ruby Hall, Muhammad Aamir Hashmi, Ogma Hatta, Mai Helmy, Thi Vân Hoang, Mai Trang Huynh, Emerence Kaneza, Taishi Kawamoto, Goran Knezevic, Bassantéa Lodegaèna Kpassagou, Ljiljana B. Lazarevic, Sarah Le Vigouroux, Astrid Lebert-Charron, Vanessa Leme, Gao-Xian Lin, Carolyn MacCann, Denisse Manrique-Millones, Marisa Matias, María Isabel Miranda-Orrego, Marina Miscioscia, Clara Morgades-Bamba, Seyyedeh Fatemeh Mousavi, Badra Moutassem-Mimouni, Ana Muntean, Hugh Murphy, Alexis Ndayizigiye, Josué Ngnombouowo Tenkue, Sally Olderbak, Sophie Ornawka, Fatumo Osman, Daniela Oyarce-Cadiz, Pablo A. Pérez-Díaz, Konstantinos V. Petrides, Claudia Pineda-Marin, Katharina Prandstetter, Alena Prikhidko, Ricardo T. Ricci, Fernando Salinas-Quiroz, Raquel Sánchez-Rodríguez, Ainize Sarrionandia, Céline Scola, Vincent Sezibera, Paola Silva, Alessandra Simonelli, Bart Soenens, Emma Sorbring, Matilda Sorkkila, Charlotte Schrooyen, Elena Stănculescu, Elena Starchenkova, Dorota Szczygiel, Javier Tapia, Thi Minh Thuy Tri, Mélissa Tremblay, A. Meltem Ustundag-Budak, Maday Valdés Pacheco, Hedwig van Bakel, Lesley Verhofstadt, Jaqueline Wendland, Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Moïra Mikolajczak. Parental Burnout Around the Globe: a 42-Country Study. Affective Science, 2021; DOI: 10.1007/s42761-020-00028-4

Cite This Page:

Université catholique de Louvain. "Parental burnout hits individualist Western countries hardest." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 March 2021. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210318085604.htm>.
Université catholique de Louvain. (2021, March 18). Parental burnout hits individualist Western countries hardest. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210318085604.htm
Université catholique de Louvain. "Parental burnout hits individualist Western countries hardest." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/03/210318085604.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

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