How Is Parental Burnout Related to Emotional Problems? Exploring the Roles of Coparenting and Parent‐Child Conflict in Chinese Children

Background The study of parental burnout has become an emerging topic in the field of parenting and in the field of mental health. Its negative effects are especially noteworthy. However, research on the potential mechanisms through which parental burnout may influence emotional problems in childhood remains limited. This study aims to examine the association between parental burnout and children's emotional problems and the underlying mechanism. Methods A short‐term longitudinal survey by 1‐month interval was conducted by using the Short Version of Parental Burnout Assessment (Time 1), Coparenting Relationship Scale (Time 1), Parent‐child Relationship Scale (Time 2) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Time 3), which were administered to the parents (Mean = 37.66 years old) of 621 elementary school children (50.9% boys; Mean = 8.93 years old). SPSS PROCESS models 4 and 8 were used to examine the moderated mediation model. Findings After controlling for background information, this three‐wave longitudinal study showed that (1) parental burnout was associated with greater emotional problems among children; (2) parent–child conflict partially mediated the relationship between parental burnout and children's emotional problems; (3) coparenting moderated the relationship between parental burnout and parent‐child conflict. Conclusion The study's findings provide insight into the relationship between parental burnout and children's emotional problems as well as the process underlying this relationship, which may contribute to the prevention of parental burnout and children's emotional problems.