EXHAUSTION IN PARENTAL BURNOUT AND WELLBEING: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SELF-DISCREPANCY AMONG URBAN INDIAN MOTHERS

Abstract

Motherhood is perceived as a significant role for a woman. However, it can also be stressful and exhausting when there is a lack of resources for meeting the demands of parenting. This would lead to parental burnout, which can result in perceiving oneself as not a good parent, causing greater selfdiscrepancy and affecting the overall wellbeing. This study aims to study the relationship between the emotional exhaustion faced in parenting, self-discrepancy and wellbeing.Data was collected from 408 mothers in the schools of Chennai. Proposed mediation model was analyzed using Hayes PROCESS macro in SPSS and the results revealed that self-discrepancy partially mediated the effect of parental exhaustion on wellbeing (a*b = CI₉₅ = -0.06 and -0.01). The findings suggest that in the protocol for treating parental burnout, if mothers are taught to set rational expectations in their role as a mother, it would help them to improve their wellbeing.