Understanding Parental Burnout in Parents of ADHD Children: Development and Psychometric Analysis of a New Questionnaire

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and validate a new questionnaire, the Parental Burnout in ADHD (PBA) scale, to address this gap in the literature. Drawing on existing research on parental burnout, ADHD, and related constructs such as parenting stress and self-efficacy, the PBA scale was developed through a rigorous process involving item generation, expert review, and pilot testing. The final version of the PBA scale comprised 36 items, covering five dimensions: Parental stress, Parental self-efficacy, Parental guilt, Social support for parents, Parental burnout and Parental coping strategies. The psychometric properties of the PBA scale were examined in a sample of 118 parents of children with ADHD. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the five-factor structure of the scale, with good model fit indices. In conclusion, the Parental Burnout in ADHD (PBA) scale is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing parental burnout in parents of children with ADHD. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.