What causes parental burnout? A 2024 systematic review

The finding

The Ren systematic review searched PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, CNKI and WanFang for studies on parental burnout published between 2010 and July 2023. Of 2,037 articles screened, 26 met the inclusion criteria. The review used Ecological Systems Theory as its organising framework.

At the microsystem (individual) level, the review identified factors associated with parental burnout including gender, educational level, income, parental personality, internalisation of parental motivation, self-compassion and concern for others, alexithymia, anxiety and depressive symptoms, parental perfectionism, resilience, low self-esteem and high need for control, and attachment style. At the mesosystem (interpersonal) level, factors included the parent-child relationship and marital satisfaction.

The broader literature in this area, including Mikolajczak and Roskam’s work, frames these findings inside a demands-resources balance: parental burnout rises when the demands of parenting consistently exceed the resources parents have access to. The Ren review is useful because it shows how many different factors sit underneath that balance. The condition is not caused by one thing. It is the cumulative effect of a balance that has tipped, often slowly. That changes what intervention can usefully look like. Reducing any single demand or increasing any single resource shifts the balance a little; rebuilding the balance usually requires several moves at once.

What this looks like in real households

The balance tips quietly. The kids grow, after-school activities multiply, work intensifies, the support network thins as friends move away, and the standards do not move. None of the individual changes look like a crisis. The cumulative shift is what the research is describing. By the time the four dimensions of the Parental Burnout Assessment start showing, the demands side has been outweighing the resources side for some time.

How a shared system changes the picture

The Ren review is useful because it makes the intervention question concrete: any change that reduces demands or increases resources contributes. Hermo sits on the resources side. By extracting events and tasks from household email, surfacing reminders in advance, and holding household facts in a shared knowledge base, it reduces the working-memory cost of running a family and makes the household a more multi-player operation. That is one resource contribution among many. The research framework is honest about scale: no single tool addresses parental burnout. The point is to shift the balance.

Citation

Authors

Ren, X., et al.

Year

2024

Journal

BMC Public Health

Sample

Systematic review of 26 articles selected from 2,037 screened (PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, CNKI, WanFang; 2010 to July 2023). Organised using Ecological Systems Theory.

Ren, X., et al. (2024). A systematic review of parental burnout and related factors among parents. BMC Public Health. Read the paper: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-17829-y.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Ren 2024 systematic review say causes parental burnout?

The review identifies associated factors at multiple ecological levels. At the individual level, factors include parental personality, internalisation of parental motivation, alexithymia, anxiety and depressive symptoms, parental perfectionism, resilience, low self-esteem and high need for control, and attachment style. At the interpersonal level, the parent-child relationship and marital satisfaction are highlighted.

What framework does the Ren review use?

The Ren review organises its findings using Ecological Systems Theory, looking at the individual (microsystem), interpersonal (mesosystem), and broader contextual levels at which factors associated with parental burnout sit. The broader literature, particularly Mikolajczak and Roskam’s work, frames the same findings inside a balance between risks and resources (the BR2 framework).

What resources protect against parental burnout?

Drawing on the broader parental burnout literature, the resources side of the balance includes social and partner support, recovery time, parental self-efficacy, and practical help with the day-to-day work of running a family. Resources are not only emotional; the practical layer of who handles what in the household matters.

What demands contribute to parental burnout?

The broader literature points to factors including children’s needs and behavioural difficulties, work pressure, financial strain, single-parent status, and high internalised parenting standards. Demands accumulate; the balance often tips slowly rather than all at once.

How can a household shift the balance?

Any change that reduces demands or increases resources contributes. The research is honest about scale: no single intervention addresses parental burnout. The contribution of practical tools is on the resources side, particularly by reducing the working-memory load of running a household and making the daily coordination genuinely shareable across both partners.