This study aimed to investigate the maternal sense of competence and maternal burnout in Italian mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample was composed of 278 mothers of children/adolescents aged 4 to 17 years old. Participants were recruited after the end of the first spring total Italian lockdown (June-October 2020) through online advertisements on websites and social media. We hypothesized a model in which a specific personality trait, such as neuroticism, affected maternal competence by the mediating role of maternal burnout. Results showed that neuroticism was directly and negatively predictive of perception of maternal competence, and it was negatively associated with maternal burnout, specifically specific antecedents that were strictly related to parental burnout. ANOVA results highlighted that the maternal level of education affected maternal competence in terms of satisfaction. In contrast, the working regimen during the first lockdown for COVID-19 affected maternal competence in terms of efficacy. Maternal burnout was affected by atypical child development in terms of both common (job burnout, stress management abilities) and specific (parental burnout) antecedents. COVID-19 strongly increased the risk of maternal burnout, resulting in mothers having a poor perception of their own competency. This is particularly the case in the presence of a neurotic personality.
Keywords: COVID-19; competence; neuroticism; psychological burn-out.