Parental burnout affects offsprings in similar way
By IANSWednesday, January 20, 2010
LONDON - Children of parents suffering from burnout are more likely than others to experience school burnout, says the latest research.
These findings are the outcome of the first scientific study into the links between adolescents’ and parents’ burnout.
“Experiences of burnout were shared most particularly between adolescents and parents of the same gender, i.e. between daughters and mothers and between sons and fathers,” says Katariina Salmela-Aro, psychology professor at Jyvaskyla University, Finland.
“The parent of the same gender seems to serve as a role model for the development of burnout,” adds Salmela-Aro, who led the research.
School burnout is a chronic school-related stress syndrome that is manifested in fatigue, experiences of cynicism about school and a sense of inadequacy as a student.
Estimates of such burnout were obtained from 515 ninth-graders aged 15 and from 595 parents of these adolescents. The results showed that experiences of burnout were shared in families.
Parental burnout may also show up as a negative style of upbringing and as a lowered interest and involvement in adolescents’ lives. The results indicated that family finances were also reflected in the level of shared burnout, says a Jyvaskyla varsity release.
“The greater the family’s financial worries, the higher the level of experienced burnout. This is an important result in view of the potential impact of the ongoing recession on the well-being of families and young people,” says Salmela-Aro.
