Impact of Parental Fatigue
To what extent do parents of young children experience fatigue and how does this relate to their wellbeing and parenting?
This project explores the extent to which parents of young children experience fatigue, what factors contribute to their fatigue and how fatigue impacts on their wellbeing and parenting.
The findings will inform the development of information resources to assist parents in the management of fatigue symptoms.
In 2008 the PRC conducted a large community-based survey with over 1400 parents of young children from birth to six years of age. The survey asked questions about fatigue, parenting stress, wellbeing, parent sleep quality, social support, coping, self-care activities and parenting.
Preliminary findings show that parents of young children reported moderate to high levels of fatigue, which was associated with their parenting and wellbeing. Over 70 per cent of parents reported that their tiredness gets in the way of them being the parent they want to be.
High levels of fatigue were found to be associated with low parenting warmth (showing affection), high hostile parenting (getting angry and frustrated) and low parental involvement in play and learning activities. High levels of fatigue were also associated with high parenting stress and low feelings of effectiveness and satisfaction in the parenting role. The results also revealed that poor diet and exercise, ineffective coping strategies, lack of social support and poor sleep quality were associated with high levels of fatigue in parents.
