Intensive Mothering Beliefs: Cultural Responsivity in the Treatment of Maternal Burnout
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Authors
Fleetwood, Jenna
Issue Date
2025-09-18
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
maternal burnout , intensive mothering beliefs , socially prescribed perfectionism , maternal guilt , cultural responsivity
Alternative Title
Abstract
Intensive mothering ideology is a prominent and impactful belief system that influences the experience of motherhood and maternal burnout. Maternal burnout is defined as the experience of emotional detachment, reduced engagement with parenting responsibilities, and perceived parental effectiveness. There is currently a lack of therapeutic approaches that are culturally responsive in treating maternal burnout. This literature review addressed this lack of understanding by synthesizing the findings of research investigating the interplay between intensive mothering beliefs, maternal burnout, and culturally responsive therapeutic treatment. This research will explore the question: how might exploring and deconstructing intensive mothering beliefs improve the cultural responsivity of therapeutic treatment for maternal burnout. A variety of databases and literature repositories were queried for peer-reviewed literature published on the topic within the last 5 years. This research determined that intensive mothering ideology impacts maternal burnout through the mechanisms of socially prescribed perfectionism, maternal guilt, and compensatory behaviors. The investigation suggests that there is therapeutic value in exploring and deconstructing the cultural and personal significance of intensive mothering beliefs in the context of maternal burnout treatment. This literature review provides novel considerations in the treatment of maternal burnout that serve to support cultural responsivity in maternal burnout treatment.
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
openAccess
openAccess