Parental burnout and adolescents' self-esteem: A longitudinal study

Parental burnout refers to a specific syndrome resulting from a chronic imbalance of parenting demands and resources. While previous studies have examined the negative effects of parental burnout on child and adolescent development, limited research has investigated its impact on self-esteem, a critical variable for success across many domains. This study aimed to examine the effects of parental burnout on adolescents' self-esteem, as well as the mediating roles of parental neglect and violence. The study adopted a longitudinal design, collecting data at three separate time points on primary caregivers' parental burnout, adolescents' perceptions of parental neglect and violence, and adolescents' self-esteem levels. Participants were students from a middle school in central China and their primary caregivers ( n = 118). Results from cross-lagged model revealed that parental burnout indirectly influenced adolescents' self-esteem through neglect (indirect effect = −0.03, SE = 0.02, p = .01). However, the mediating effect of violence was not significant. This study enriches research on the consequences of parental burnout and provides further evidence on how parental behavior shapes adolescents' self-esteem.