Exhausted Minds: Maternal Reflective Functioning and Parental Burnout in Mothers of Young Children in A One‐Year Longitudinal Study

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cris.lastimport.scopus2026-05-17T03:10:15Z
dc.abstract.enObjective: This 12-month longitudinal study with three waves of data collection examined reciprocal relationships betweenparental reflective functioning (PRF)—the capacity to understand one's child's mental states—dimensions and parental burnoutin mothers of young children. Background: Parental burnout affects approximately 3%–8% of mothers in Western populations, with particularly high rates inPoland, yet factors that explain parental burnout remain poorly understood. PRF may be an important factor, but no longitudinalresearch has examined the relationships between parental burnout and PRF over time. Method: This three-wave longitudinal study is the first to examine PRF–burnout relationships over a one-year period. Usingcross-lagged panel models (CLPM) and random-intercept CLPM (RI- CLPM), we modeled stable between-person differencesfrom dynamic within-person processes in the longitudinal associations between parental burnout and three PRF dimensions (i.e., prementalizing modes, certainty about child's mental states, and interest/curiosity in mental states) in 988 Polish mothersof children aged 0–5 years 12 months. Results: Findings revealed considerable heterogeneity in PRF–burnout relationships. Prementalizing modes showed unidirec-tional effects, increasing only in response to chronic parental exhaustion rather than predicting parental burnout. Certaintyabout mental states demonstrated a bidirectional relationship with maternal burnout, driven by stable between-person differ-ences in both constructs. Maternal interest and curiosity predicted increases in parental burnout, with lower curiosity associatedwith higher parental burnout at both the between-person and within-person levels. Conclusion: Different aspects of maternal mentalization predict parental burnout through distinct longitudinal patterns thatchallenge prevailing theoretical frameworks. Implications: These findings provide the first longitudinal evidence that maternal curiosity about the child's mental states andchronic uncertainty may represent key psychological processes implicated in vulnerability to parental burnout, with potentialimplications for prevention and family support.
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii i Prawa w Poznaniu, Instytut Psychologii, Centrum Badań nad Rozwojem Osobowości
dc.affiliationWydział Psychologii i Prawa w Poznaniu
dc.contributor.authorKamza, Anna
dc.contributor.authorLuyten, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorDuras, Jakub
dc.contributor.authorCarone, Nicola
dc.contributor.authorDzielińska, Michalina
dc.contributor.authorPiotrowski, Konrad
dc.date.access2026-05-12
dc.date.accessioned2026-05-16T08:45:47Z
dc.date.available2026-05-16T08:45:47Z
dc.date.created2026-04-30
dc.date.issued2026-05-08
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>ABSTRACT</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective</jats:title> <jats:p>This 12‐month longitudinal study with three waves of data collection examined reciprocal relationships between parental reflective functioning (PRF)—the capacity to understand one's child's mental states—dimensions and parental burnout in mothers of young children.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Parental burnout affects approximately 3%–8% of mothers in Western populations, with particularly high rates in Poland, yet factors that explain parental burnout remain poorly understood. PRF may be an important factor, but no longitudinal research has examined the relationships between parental burnout and PRF over time.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Method</jats:title> <jats:p>This three‐wave longitudinal study is the first to examine PRF–burnout relationships over a one‐year period. Using cross‐lagged panel models (CLPM) and random‐intercept CLPM (RI‐CLPM), we modeled stable between‐person differences from dynamic within‐person processes in the longitudinal associations between parental burnout and three PRF dimensions (i.e., prementalizing modes, certainty about child's mental states, and interest/curiosity in mental states) in 988 Polish mothers of children aged 0–5 years 12 months.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>Findings revealed considerable heterogeneity in PRF–burnout relationships. Prementalizing modes showed unidirectional effects, increasing only in response to chronic parental exhaustion rather than predicting parental burnout. Certainty about mental states demonstrated a bidirectional relationship with maternal burnout, driven by stable between‐person differences in both constructs. Maternal interest and curiosity predicted increases in parental burnout, with lower curiosity associated with higher parental burnout at both the between‐person and within‐person levels.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>Different aspects of maternal mentalization predict parental burnout through distinct longitudinal patterns that challenge prevailing theoretical frameworks.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Implications</jats:title> <jats:p>These findings provide the first longitudinal evidence that maternal curiosity about the child's mental states and chronic uncertainty may represent key psychological processes implicated in vulnerability to parental burnout, with potential implications for prevention and family support.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
dc.description.accesstimebefore_publication
dc.description.grantnumberSUB/IPsy/04/2021/05
dc.description.sdgGoodHealthAndWellBeing
dc.description.versionfinal_author
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/jomf.70080
dc.identifier.issn0022-2445
dc.identifier.issn1741-3737
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2339
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationpsychologia
dc.rightsOther
dc.rights.explanationObowiązuje embargo 12 m-cy
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOTHER
dc.subject.enmental health
dc.subject.enmothers
dc.subject.enparental burnout
dc.subject.enparenting
dc.subject.enparental reflective functioning
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleExhausted Minds: Maternal Reflective Functioning and Parental Burnout in Mothers of Young Children in A One‐Year Longitudinal Study
dc.title.journalJournal of Marriage and Family
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle