The master’s thesis Parental Stress, Burnout and Religious Coping examines the relationship between parental stress, parental burnout, and religious coping, drawing on a relational-developmental understanding of the human person. The theoretical part presents key concepts of early childhood, attachment, emotional regulation, partner and parental relationships, and religious coping as an important mechanism for managing stressful and critical life events. Special emphasis is placed on understanding how early relational experiences influence later parental functioning and the experience of stress.
The empirical part is based on a quantitative study, in which questionnaires measuring parental stress (PSS), parental burnout (PBA), and positive and negative religious coping (Brief RCOPE) were used. The results indicate that positive religious coping is associated with lower levels of parental stress and burnout, whereas negative religious coping is associated with higher levels of both. A strong association between parental stress and burnout was also found, as well as a relationship between the number of children and the level of burnout, while differences according to parents’ gender and age were not statistically significant.
The findings confirm that religious coping represents an important factor of psychological adjustment in the parental role and that positive forms of religious coping can serve as an important source of inner support, whereas negative forms increase the risk of mental and emotional distress. The master’s thesis contributes to a better understanding of contemporary challenges of parenthood and highlights the importance of a holistic approach to supporting parents that includes psychological, relational, social, and spiritual dimensions.
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