The role of parental guilt and cognitive distortions in parental burnout

The aim of this study is to examine the direct effect of parental guilt on parental burnout and the mediating role of cognitive distortions in this relationship. The research was conducted with a sample of 300 parents who have children aged 0-24 and do not have a psychiatric diagnosis. To minimize the confounding effect of postpartum depression symptoms, mothers with babies aged 0-12 months were excluded from the study. Participants completed the Sociodemographic Information Form, Parental Guilt Scale, Cognitive Distortions Scale, and Parental Burnout Scale online. Analyses controlling for the number of children, parental age, employment status, education level, and involvement in the child's life showed that parental guilt had a significant direct effect on burnout. Bootstrap analysis confirmed that cognitive distortions played a statistically significant partial mediating role in this relationship. Being female, being a younger parent, and having a child under 14 years of age were associated with higher levels of burnout. In conclusion, parental guilt was found to increase burnout both directly and indirectly through cognitive distortions. These findings highlight the critical importance of targeting not only guilt feelings but also dysfunctional cognitive processes in intervention programs aimed at coping with parental burnout. The study provides a theoretical contribution as one of the first research studies in the field of parenting psychology to shed light on the causal processes between guilt, cognition, and burnout.