Abstract

This cross-sectional study examines parental burnout among 426 parents of primary school children in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, using the validated Parental Burnout Assessment developed by Roskam et al. (2018). Overall parental burnout was low to moderate (M = 2.45, SD = 0.369) on an eight-point Likert scale. Emotional Distancing recorded the highest mean score (M = 2.95, SD = 0.807), followed by Fed Up with Parental Role (M = 2.66, SD = 0.494), Exhaustion in Parental Role (M = 2.48, SD = 0.247), and Contrast in Parental Self (M = 1.71, SD = 0.476). One-way ANOVA and independent-samples t-tests revealed no significant differences (p > .05) by parental gender, age, education, household income, children’s grade level, or residential area. The findings suggest that parental burnout affects urban families across socioeconomic groups and provide evidence for developing school-based counseling and community mental health interventions for parents.

Keywords: Emotional distancing, Ho Chi Minh City, parental burnout, Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA), primary school parents.