When Exhaustion Becomes Control: Parental Burnout, Psychological Intrusion, and the Resilience of Adolescents

Abstract Parental burnout—a silent erosion of caregiving capacity—can leave emotional residues that are not always loud but often lasting. Unlike overt neglect or hostility, psychologically controlling parenting is a subtler, insidious form of harm that may go unnoticed but can significantly undermine adolescent mental health. Drawing on a large, multi-informant dataset of 2,336 Chinese parent–adolescent dyads, this study examines how parental burnout may spill over into adolescents’ internalizing problems (e.g., anxiety, withdrawal) through psychologically controlling behaviors. Importantly, we identify psychological capital—a composite of hope, optimism, resilience, and efficacy—as a potential psychological firewall, buffering youth from the toxic spillover of parental stress. Structural equation modeling revealed that psychological control significantly mediated the effect of parental burnout on internalizing symptoms, and this indirect path was significantly weakened in adolescents with higher psychological capital. These findings offer a dual-process perspective: while family-level stress increases vulnerability, adolescent-level resilience can reduce susceptibility. We highlight the need for emotionally sustainable parenting and school-based interventions that build youth’s psychological defenses in high-stress family environments.