Parenting styles of Finnish parents and their associations with parental burnout

Abstract

In the present study, we examined what kind of parenting style groups (defined by parental warmth, behavioral control, and psychological control) can be identified among contemporary Finnish mothers and fathers and how these parenting style groups are associated with parents’ symptoms of parental burnout. Gender differences in parenting style groups, and in their associations with parental burnout, were also investigated. The survey data were gathered from 1,471 Finnish parents (91.2% mothers). The results of k-means cluster analysis identified six different parenting style groups: authoritarian (13.5%), permissive (15.2%), psychologically controlling (19.4%), uninvolved (14.4%), controlling (12.4%), and authoritative (25.1%), with the authoritative parenting style being the most common. The identified parenting style groups were equally common for mothers and fathers. The results showed further that, independently of gender, parents applying the authoritarian parenting style experienced symptoms of parental burnout the most, whereas those with the authoritative or permissive style reported these symptoms the least. Based on the results, it is suggested that child health care and family centers should pay particular attention to potential risk groups such as parents reporting symptoms of parental burnout and parents characterized by an authoritarian parenting style.