Parental burnout stages and their link to parental violence: A longitudinal study

Parental burnout's (PB) literature has blossomed, showing that PB is a major predictor in child maltreatment. But it is unclear at what PB stage parents become violent. 1466 parents answered a pre-registered three-wave longitudinal survey. PB seems to start with exhaustion, which catalyzes the development of all other PB symptoms. There seems to be a process relating PB symptoms to violence towards the offspring: exhaustion is prospectively linked to an increase in emotional distancing and feeling fed up, which are then linked to a prospective increase in violence. Researchers would benefit from focusing more on the symptoms of PB, to increase nuance and give even more concrete suggestions for clinical practice. Clinicians should focus on reducing exhaustion as it seems to be the starting point of PB, and be alert to child maltreatment when emotional distancing or feeling fed up are mentioned. Implications are discussed. • Parental burnout is a developmental process starting with exhaustion. • There is a process linking parental burnout symptoms to violence. • Exhaustion catalyzes emotional distancing and feeling fed up, both predicting subsequent violence.