The Parental Burnout Test

The past two-plus years have been relentless for working parents, who have frequently been placed in the impossible position of doing their jobs and parenting simultaneously.

And a recent survey, by researchers with Ohio State University, suggests they have paid a steep emotional price. In 2021, 66 percent of working parents met the criteria for parental burnout — a nonclinical term that basically means they were so physically and mentally depleted that they may feel like bad parents or emotionally pull away from their children.

The researchers based their findings on an online survey of 1,285 working parents who responded to their 10-question “Working Parent Burnout Scale.” The test is a tool that moms and dads can use to assess whether their burnout goes beyond the fatigue that all parents feel at some point — and just how serious it is.

The report offers a snapshot of a time when the United States was deep in Covid lockdowns. Nonetheless, the researchers believe working parents continue to face many of the same stresses today, as they're expected to put in long hours at work and at home with minimal outside support.

“It’s this constant feeling of having to be on, 24/7,” said Kate Gawlik, an associate professor of clinical nursing at the Ohio State University College of Nursing and a co-author of the report.

The 10 questions here won’t give you any kind of clinical diagnosis, but they can help clarify how depleted you feel — so hopefully you can get the help you need.