Parenting Stress in the Relationship between Positive Psychological Capital and Parental Burnout

This research seeks to explore the pathways through which parents' psychological capital affects parental burnout, emphasizing the intermediary function of parenting stress. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 461 parents from various provinces and cities across China. The instruments used included the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (α = 0.90), the Parenting Stress Scale (α = 0.89), and the Parental Burnout Inventory (α = 0.91). The results indicated that psychological capital was significantly negatively correlated with parental burnout (r = -0.459, p < 0.001) and parenting stress (r = -0.428, p < 0.001), while parenting stress was positively correlated with parental burnout (r = 0.555, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis using PROCESS Model 4 with bootstrapping revealed that parenting stress partially mediated the relationship between psychological capital and parental burnout, accounting for 40.96% of the total effect. These findings underscore the protective role of psychological resources in reducing parenting stress and preventing burnout among parents. The results also offer valuable insights for developing targeted psychological support interventions aimed at enhancing family well-being.