Having Already Brought Children into a Burning World: Childhood Experiences of Disorganization and Role Reversal in Primary Caregiving Mothers Who Regret Their Parenthood in the Age of Climate Crisis

Parenthood regret, a feeling arising from the judgment that the decision to have children was wrong and the belief that an alternative choice would have led to a better life, remains largely underexplored despite its relevance to parental and child adjustment and its likely developmental and environmental roots. Prior work linked childhood disorganization and role reversal to enduring disruptions in caregiving. Simultaneously, the accelerating climate crisis may intensify parenthood regret, especially among parents with unresolved developmental trauma. Yet eco-anxiety has rarely been examined in parents. We tested distinct and interactive effects of childhood disorganization and role reversal, together with eco-anxiety, on parenthood regret in 760 cisgender, heterosexual, primary-caregiving mothers in Italy (Mage = 42.50, SD = 8.96) of preschoolers (Mage = 4.11, SD = 1.63). Higher levels of eco-anxiety over the last two weeks were associated with greater parenthood regret and amplified the impact of developmental risk. Specifically, greater childhood disorganization with one’s mother, but not with one’s father, was associated with greater parenthood regret when mothers experienced increased eco-anxiety. Findings indicate that early relational trauma and contemporary existential threats jointly shape maternal feelings about parenthood. Clinically and socially, results suggest the value of targeted support for mothers facing complex caregiving demands under climate stress (e.g. trauma-informed parenting interventions, community resources) and of policy actions that address climate-related anxiety and family well-being.