Am I A Bad Mom? Or Just Tired? Associations Between Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms, Maternal Burnout, and Negative Self-Appraisal of Parenting

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2025

School

Child and Family Studies

Abstract

Prevalence rates for internalizing symptoms (i.e. depression and anxiety) among adolescents continue to rise, with recent estimates indicating that over 15% of adolescents experience depression and over 30% experience anxiety (NIMH). For mothers, these experiences can create a uniquely demanding parenting dynamic as they seek to support the needs of their adolescents.. Using a framework of stress and coping theory and family systems theory, this paper explores the associations between adolescent internalizing experiences, maternal burnout, and negative self-appraisal of parenting in a sample of 3,146 mother-adolescent dyads using SEM techniques with secondary data analysis. Findings indicate that adolescent depression is significantly associated with maternal burnout, which is in turn significantly associated with maternal negative self-appraisal. Significant indirect effects were detected between adolescent depression and maternal negative self-appraisal through maternal burnout. Implications for family life educators and clinicians are discussed.

Publication Title

Journal of Feminist Family Therapy

Volume

37

Issue

2025-01-02 00:00:00

First Page

42

Last Page

61

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