Impact of Parental Burnout and Parenthood Regret on Children's Behavior: Mediating Pathways

ABSTRACT Objective This longitudinal study examined reciprocal associations between parental burnout (PB), parenthood regret (PR), and children's internalizing/externalizing behaviors, and tested whether parental neglect/violence and parent–child closeness mediated these associations. Background PB and PR are distinct yet correlated forms of parental distress. While PB has been linked to neglectful/violent parenting and child behavioral problems, the implications of PR for children remain poorly understood. Method Participants were 1467 French‐ and English‐speaking parents ( M age = 39.24, SD age = 7.25, range age = 19–67; 66.42% mothers; M number of children = 2.14, SD number of children = 0.97, range number of children = 1–8; M average age of children = 9.22 years, SD age of children = 5.06, range age of children = 1–29) assessed at three time points, 4 months apart. Structural equation modeling with a three‐wave cross‐lagged panel design tested bidirectional and indirect associations. Results After controlling for autoregressive effects, higher PB was prospectively associated with higher PR, more parental neglect and violence, and greater child behavioral difficulties. Higher PR was associated with lower subsequent parent–child closeness and, from T2 to T3, slightly higher PB. Contrary to expectations, neither parent–child closeness nor parental neglect and violence mediated associations with later child behavior. Conclusion and Implications Findings support a transactional view of family functioning while showing that PB and PR follow partly distinct longitudinal pathways. PB showed stronger links with child behavioral difficulties, whereas PR was associated with reduced parent–child closeness. These findings highlight the importance of differentiated, family‐oriented assessment and intervention approaches.