Page No.227-231
Venkatesh Kumar, G.
University of Mysore, Mysore
Parenting a mentally retarded child is not an easy task. Parents having a mentally
retarded child experience a variety of ‘psychological stress’ related to the child’s
disability. Parents especially mothers need every help and encouragement
possible in their difficult task, which is, indeed, easier for them while the child is
still a baby. The birth of a handicapped child is likely to be one of the most
traumatic events experienced by the family. Parents and other children in the
family must undergo a variety of profound changes to adapt to the presence of
a disabled member. Research has indicated that families who are successful in
coping with having a mentally retarded child, are able to mobilize their internal
and external means of support to deal effectively with the special needs of their
child. A total of 62 parents including both father and mother of the mentally
retarded child i.e., 32 fathers and 30 mothers had been studied. Two way ANOVA
was employed to find out the significance of difference between gender,
educational level on psychological stress and coping strategies. In the present
study, gender and educational levels are treated as Independent variables, and
psychological stress and coping scores as dependent variables. The analysis
of the results showed that the relationship between psychological stress and
coping strategies of the parents of mentally retarded children was negative and
highly significant
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