Difficulties of mothers living with mentally disabled children

Objective: To determine the difficulties of mothers living with children suffering from intellectual disabilities, and the influence of socio-demographic factors aggravating the situation. Methods: The study was conducted from September to December 2009 in Odemis, Izmir in western Turkey, in one public-sector and two private-sector rehabilitation centres for disabled children. The research sample consisted of mothers with primary responsibility for 168 disabled children between the ages of 3 and 18 years. Data was collected using a pre-designed Personal Information Form, which had two sections. The first part contained 20 items about the socio-demographic data of the families and the children, their knowledge about mental disabilities and support for childcare. The second part consisted of 18 items which related to the most frequently encountered problems in terms of daily care, as well as the financial, psychological and social aspects. Data, collected through face-to-face interviews spanning 30-40 minutes, was analysed using analysis of variance and student's t test. Results: Of the 168 mothers, 64 (38.1%) said they experienced sadness; 72 (42.9%) anger; and 32 (19.1%) felt lonely. As many as 92 (54.8%) mothers were blamed by their in-laws for the disability in their respective children. Only 50 (29.8%) parents in the study said they had "sometimes" felt acceptance of their disabled child. Conclusion: The psychological situation of parents with disabled children is an issue of particular concern, and psychological consultancy and guidance should be provided to such families to enable them to overcome their negative emotions and the consequent problems.