L’article explore l’évolution historique de la psychologie francophone au Liban, en mettant particulièrement en lumière le rôle de l’université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth. Depuis ses origines, cette institution a établi des collaborations fructueuses avec des universités françaises. Les liens établis avec ces universités ont permis d’enrichir le programme de psychologie, notamment en y intégrant les théories psychanalytiques et en favorisant une approche holistique. Le texte met aussi en évidence l’utilisation des travaux des psychanalystes francophones dans la recherche et la pratique clinique au Liban. Des concepts tels que ceux de Didier Anzieu, Micheline Enriquez et René Kaes permettent de mieux comprendre les troubles psychiques chez les Libanais, en particulier ceux qui ont connu la guerre. En outre, l’auteur montre comment les principes de la francophonie contribuent à la transformation sociale à travers l’établissement de structures telles que le Centre universitaire de soins psychologiques à l’université Saint-Joseph et les Centres de consultation médicopsychologiques pour les enfants victimes de la guerre. Ces institutions jouent un rôle crucial dans la formation des étudiants et la prestation de services psychologiques à la population libanaise, en accord avec les idéaux de solidarité et de respect des droits humains promus par la francophonie. En conclusion, malgré les défis contemporains et l’influence croissante de l’anglais, l’article souligne l’importance de préserver et de promouvoir la psychologie francophone aux nouvelles générations.

Parental burnout (PB) is a pervasive phenomenon. Parenting is embedded in cultural values, and previous research has shown the role of individualism in PB. In this paper, we reanalyze previously collected data to identify profiles based on the four dimensions of PB, and explore whether these profiles vary across countries’ levels of collectivistic-individualistic (COL-IND) values. Our sample comprised 16,885 individuals from 36 countries (73% women; 27% men), and we used a latent profile approach to uncover PB profiles. The findings showed five profiles: Fulfilled, Not in PB, Low risk of PB, High risk of PB and Burned out. The profiles pointed to climbing levels of PB in the total sample and in each of the three country groups (High COL/Low IND, Medium COL-IND, Low COL/High IND). Exploratory analyses revealed that distinct dimensions of PB had the most prominent roles in the climbing pattern, depending on the countries’ levels of COL/IND. In particular, we found contrast to be a hallmark dimension and an indicator of severe burnout for individualistic countries. Contrary to our predictions, emotional distance and saturation did not allow a clear differentiation across collectivistic countries. Our findings support several research avenues regarding PB measurement and intervention.

What is it to be “an ideal parent”? Does the answer differ across countries and social classes? To answer these questions in a way that minimizes bias and ethnocentrism, we used open-ended questions to explore ideal-parent beliefs among 8,357 mothers and 3,517 fathers from 37 countries. Leximancer Semantic Network Analysis was utilized to first determine parenting culture zones (i.e., countries with shared ideal-parent beliefs) and then extract the predominant themes and concepts in each culture zone. The results yielded specific types of ideal-parent beliefs in five parenting culture zones: being “responsible and children/family-focused” for Asian parents, being “responsible and proper demeanor-focused” for African parents, and being “loving and responsible” for Hispanic-Italian parents. Although the most important themes and concepts were the same in the final two zones—being “loving and patient,” there were subtle differences: English-speaking, European Union, and Russian parents emphasized “being caring,” while French-speaking parents valued “listening” or being “present.” Ideal-parent beliefs also differed by education levels within culture zones, but no general pattern was discerned across culture zones. These findings suggest that the country in which parents were born cannot fully explain their differences in ideal-parent beliefs and that differences arising from social class or education level cannot be dismissed. Future research should consider how these differences affect the validity of the measurements in question and how they can be incorporated into parenting intervention research within and across cultures.

PurposeThe prevalence of parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children, varies dramatically across countries and is highest in Western countries characterized by high individualism.MethodIn this study, we examined the mediators of the relationship between individualism measured at the country level and parental burnout measured at the individual level in 36 countries (16,059 parents).ResultsThe results revealed three mediating mechanisms, that is, self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, high agency and self-directed socialization goals, and low parental task sharing, by which individualism leads to an increased risk of burnout among parents.ConclusionThe results confirm that the three mediators under consideration are all involved, and that mediation was higher for self-discrepancies between socially prescribed and actual parental selves, then parental task sharing, and lastly self-directed socialization goals. The results provide some important indications of how to prevent parental burnout at the societal level in Western countries.

In Western countries, recent decades have witnessed a revolution toward gender equality. Inequalities have been greatly reduced in areas such as education or employment. Because inequalities lead to distress, this development has largely benefited women. One notable exception is the realm of parenting, which has remained rife with inequalities even in the most egalitarian countries. We hypothesized that experiencing inequality in parenting when one holds egalitarian values and raising a child in a country characterized by a high level of gender equality in other areas, increases mothers’ psychological distress in the specific area of parenting. Multilevel modeling analyses computed among 11,538 mothers from 40 countries confirmed this prediction: high egalitarian values at the individual level and high gender equality at the societal level are associated with higher burnout levels in mothers. The associations hold beyond differences in sociodemographic characteristics at the individual level and beyond economic disparities at the societal level. These findings show the importance of egalitarian values and gender equality and their paradoxical effect when inequalities are still present in specific areas as parenting. This study reveals the crucial need to act not only at the micro level but also at the macro level to promote gender equality in parenting and prevent parental burnout.

High levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children. It is not yet clear, however, whether parental burnout varies by culture, and if so, why it might do so. In this study, we examined the prevalence of parental burnout in 42 countries (17,409 parents; 71% mothers; Mage = 39.20) and showed that the prevalence of parental burnout varies dramatically across countries. Analyses of cultural values revealed that individualistic cultures, in particular, displayed a noticeably higher prevalence and mean level of parental burnout. Indeed, individualism plays a larger role in parental burnout than either economic inequalities across countries, or any other individual and family characteristic examined so far, including the number and age of children and the number of hours spent with them. These results suggest that cultural values in Western countries may put parents under heightened levels of stress.

This study- the first study on parental burnout in an Arabic speaking country in the Middle East- aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Lebanese translation of the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA-Lebanese). The PBA-Lebanese was administered to 200 Lebanese parents (67% mothers). The results showed parental burnout is a valid construct relevant to Lebanese culture. In particular, we replicated the original four-factor structure of the PBA and we tested a second order factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis. The first and second order factor model fitted the data, and reliability indexes were high (α = .97 for exhaustion, .95 for contrast, .92 for feelings of being fed up, .80 for emotional distancing and .98 for the global score). There was no significant gender difference in the prevalence of parental burnout, but mean levels were higher in mothers than in fathers. Both less educated parents and single parents reported higher parental burnout, pointing to the possible role of education and social relations as protective factors for Lebanese parents.