Estes, Kristi E (2024) Australian Parents' Burnout: The Impact of Positive Schemas, Psychological Flexibility and Youths' Difficulties. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Parental Burnout (PB) has been gaining increasing attention in recent years. Outcomes of PB for the parent, child and family are alarming. Much of the research has focused on identifying risk factors for PB (e.g. parents’ perfectionism, family disorganisation). Less is known about the role of protective factors for the development of PB. Thus, this study aimed to explore the protective roles of parent’s positive schemas (measured by the Young Positive Schema Questionnaire) and psychological flexibility (measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II) for PB (as measured by the Parental Burnout Assessment). Further, this study aimed to examine the extent to which parenting children with additional needs was predictive of PB in an Australian sample. Utilising a cross-sectional quantitative design, a convenience sample (N = 427) of parents living in Australia with at least one child (0-18 years) completed an online questionnaire battery. The final sample were predominately mothers (74.7%; M age = 36.6 years; SD = 6.12 years) and the median number of youths was two. Results suggested that both parents’ endorsement of positive schemas and their psychological flexibility were significantly related to PB. Additionally, parents of children with difficulties reported higher PB. Regression results revealed that the number of difficulties parents’ youth experienced, and parents’ psychological flexibility were the strongest predictors of PB. Overall, characteristics of both the parent and child are key for understanding parents' burnout. Clinical implications include the potential value of promoting parents’ psychological flexibility to offset the demands or “risks” of parenting.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Dr Richardson, Meg |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Jan 2026 05:55 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Jan 2026 05:55 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Australian Parents, Parental Burnout, Positive Schemas, Psychological Flexibility, Child Difficulties |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53086 |
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