IS MINDFULNESS A CURE FOR BURNED-OUT PARENTS? THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PARENTAL BURNOUT, PARENTAL MEDIATION STRATEGIES, AND MINDFULNESS

Abstract

Parental burnout is increasing within the Malaysian landscape. However, literature on parental burnout's consequences and moderating factors is still in its infancy. Accordingly, this study examines the relationship between parental burnout, mediation strategies, and mindfulness. A total of 226 parents (Father = 49; Mother = 177) between 24 and 50 years old responded to a questionnaire consisting of the Brief Parental Burnout scale (BPBs), Parental Mediation Strategy scale (PMSS), and Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale-Revised (CAMS-R). The findings reveal that parental burnout significantly predicts co-use, general restrictive mediation, and content-specific restrictive mediation. Burned-out parents are most likely to reduce co-use but increase restrictive mediations in their children's mobile device use. The findings also indicate that mindfulness could act as a buffer that prevents or curbs the influence of parental burnout.