Emotion Regulation and Parental Burnout: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objectives: Parental burnout (PB) is a widespread and pervasive syndrome. It affects individuals' mental health and their parenting capabilities. Emotion regulation (ER) has been proposed as an important dimension for explaining PB. A robust understanding of the role played by ER in PB is crucial to informing the development of more effective psychological interventions. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis about the relationship between ER and PB. Method: Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCO were searched from inception to October 2022. Quantitative studies measuring PB and ER were included. A narrative synthesis approach was used to present the results. Risk biases were assessed using a standard framework for nonintervention studies. Results: A total of 34 independent samples (N = 12,702) were included. Random-effects models indicated that expressive suppression (r = .16; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [.030, .276], p < .05) was positively related to PB and cognitive reappraisal was negative related to it (r = -.11; 95% CI = [-.155, -.069], p < .001). Discussion: Included studies were mainly cross-sectional, with samples primarily sourced from cross-country studies. Moreover, participants were predominantly middle-aged women. These factors collectively impose constraints on the generalizability of our findings, further exacerbated by the lack of inclusion of other sociodemographic information. Yet, the results may help to identify ER as a target for PB prevention programs and interventions.