UC San Diego

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light significant health disparities that have existed in society for decades. Studies exploring the mental health implications have only just begun to emerge. This study sought to understand the experience of burnout among parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a mixed-methods research design, this study analyzes fifteen focus group discussions with school staff (n=22) and parents (n=20) conducted between December 2020- March 2021 in English and Spanish. The study also analyzes a cross-sectional survey administered in 2 waves (February and March 2022) of parents’ pandemic experiences (n=541) conducted in English (n=382) and Spanish (n=159). Participants were drawn from school sites in California located in zip codes of high social vulnerability according to the California Healthy Places Index. Participants in the focus groups expressed substantial COVID-19 fatigue and discussed experiences of structural barriers, misinformation, social stigma, and trauma. Analysis of survey responses revealed that burnout was significantly associated with structural barriers and misinformation. These findings support that COVID-19 can be understood as a traumatic event increasing burnout these findings support emerging that COVID-19 can be understood as a traumatic event increasing burnout.