Parental experiences from the perspective of parental burnout in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The context of the pandemic has evidenced difficulties in physical and mental health, where emotions such as anguish, anxiety, fear, and irritability have emerged. Based on this scenario, it is considered important to analyze the experience of fathers and mothers from the perspective of parental burnout, since abrupt changes in family dynamics have been evidenced, which represented an important and dizzying adaptation challenge. Due to the lack of studies with qualitative approaches that describe the experiences in this area, the aim of the study is to describe the experience of fathers and mothers from the perspective of parental burnout in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Biobío Region, Chile. A qualitative methodology is used, oriented from a phenomenological design. The participants were three Chilean mothers and three fathers, between 20 and 50 years old. The semi-structured interview is used to collect the information and the thematic content analysis for the construction of categories. The results show that fathers and mothers perceive exhaustion associated with a mismatch between the demands related to raising children, including expectations of themselves and their responsibilities, and the availability of resources to meet those demands and expectations. A parental experience based on maladaptive feelings such as overwhelm and adaptive feelings such as parental closeness is concluded, as well as a most intimate character in family, social, and leisure activities.