Child Maltreatment Profiles of Finnish Parents and Their Association With Parental Burnout During COVID-19-Lockdown

Although it has been proposed that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of parental burnout and child maltreatment in families, parent-reported empirical evidence is scarce. Furthermore, it is unknown whether different profiles of maltreatment can be identified among parents based on physical violence, emotional violence, and neglect, and how these profiles differ based on family-related background variables. We adopted a person-oriented approach and examined maltreatment profiles of Finnish parents and their association with parental burnout and different background variables. The participants were 967 Finnish parents (88% mothers) who filled in a questionnaire during the COVID-19 lockdown in the Spring of 2020. The data were analyzed using k-means cluster analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and multinominal regression. We found four different profiles: no maltreatment (67.4%), emotional maltreatment (21.3%), neglectful maltreatment (7.3%), and diverse maltreatment (3.9%). Parental burnout was associated with all maltreatment profiles. Furthermore, parents’ low education level as well as children's young age and the high number of boys in the family were associated with maltreatment profiles. More than one third of the parents used some form of maltreatment during the COVID lockdown, emotional maltreatment being the most common profile. From a prevention point of view, it is important to identify those parents who are at risk for burnout and offer early educational and practical support particularly for families with young children.