Childhood Trauma and Parental Burnout: The Mediating Role of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Reflective Functioning

Abstract

This study investigated the mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation and reflective functioning in the association between childhood trauma and parental burnout. The participants included 402 mothers with children ranging in age from 1 to 6 years. Mothers completed the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) the parental reflective functioning questionnaire (PRFQ), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26, and Hayes Macro in SPSS was also used to analyze the effects of mediating variables. The results show that although childhood trauma and parental burnout do not have a direct and significant relationship, there is a significant indirect relationship through difficulties in emotional regulation and the two factors of parental reflective functioning, i.e., pre-mentalization, interest and curiosity about mental states. These findings contribute to the understanding of the importance of variables such as difficulties in emotion regulation and reflective functioning, which play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood trauma and parental burnout. This suggests that designing interventions and prevention to reduce parental burnout based on emotion regulation and reflective functioning may be beneficial.