Parenting Stress and Self-Compassion in Parents of Children with and Without Psychological Disorders

Abstract

Parents of children with psychological disorders experience heightened levels of stress compared to parents of children without psychological disorders. Self-compassion may serve as a protective factor for parenting stress. There is limited research evaluating stress and self-compassion in parents of children with various psychological disorders. This study examined and compared parenting stress and self-compassion in parents of children with and without psychological disorders. Parents ( N = 220) completed self-report questionnaires for parenting stress and self-compassion. Parents of children with psychological disorders reported higher levels of parenting stress compared to parents of children without psychological disorders ( F(1,218) = 9.60, p < .01) with a small effect size (partial η2 = 0.04), but similar levels of self-compassion ( F(1,218) = 0.008, p = .93). Self-compassion was significantly inversely associated with parenting stress for both parents of children with psychological disorders ( r = −.35, p = .01) and parents of children without psychological disorders ( r = −.21, p = .05). Similarly, self-compassion significantly predicted reduced parenting stress for both parents of children with psychological disorders and parents of children without psychological disorders, but self-compassion accounted for more of the variance in parenting stress for parents of children with psychological disorders. The results suggest self-compassion may be a protective factor for parenting stress in parents of children with and without psychological disorders. Fostering greater self-compassion in parents of children with psychological disorders may help to combat the additional challenges of raising these children. Future studies may explore the protective factor of self-compassion through compassion-based interventions with parents.