Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Associate Professor of psychology, Women Research Center, Alzahra University
2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the effect of loneliness on parental neglect by the mediating role of burnout and the moderating role of gender in this relationship.
Methods: The research method was descriptive and path analysis. 142 mothers with a Mage of 40.95 and 98 fathers with a Mage of 42.61 volunteered to participate in the study using convenience sampling. The measurements included the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1980), the Child Neglect Scale (Roberts et al. 1984), and the Persian version of the Parental Burnout Scale (Mousavi et al., 2020).
Finding: The results showed that the total effect of the relationship between loneliness and neglect of children in parents (p< .05) and the relationship between loneliness and burnout (p<0.05) and burnout with neglect of children is significant (p< .05). The results showed that feelings of loneliness lead to parental neglect of children through increased burnout in parents (.95 CI [.011, .15]). The results also showed that the moderating effect of gender in the mediation model is significant, such that in fathers, the indirect effect of loneliness through increased burnout on child neglect is significant (.95 CI [-.007, .02]).
Conclusion: Reducing feelings of loneliness in mothers can lead to positive parenting outcomes for children by reducing their feelings of exhaustion from parenting responsibilities and providing parents with sufficient attention to caring for their children.
Keywords
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