A Study of Caregiver Burden, General Health and Stress Resiliency among the Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability is characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in the adaptive behavior. Caregivers of children with intellectual disability often undergo a lot of stress and health issues. Since mothers are the primary caregivers of the children, they are often weighed down by various issues. Adequate support can create resiliency in them. The paper outlines the level of care giver burden, general health and stress resiliency of the mothers of children with intellectual disability. A total 27 mothers of children with intellectual disability were taken up as a sample for this study. Caregiver Burden Scale, General Health Questionnaire and Stress Resiliency Profile were used to assess the caregiver burden, health issues and stress resiliency among the mothers of children with intellectual disability. The data was analyzed using frequency method. The results on care giving burden among the mothers of children with intellectual disability indicated that more than half (59.26%) of the mothers reported mild to moderate burden, around 29.63 % showed symptoms of moderate to severe burden and very few (11.11%) reported of little or no burden. The scores of general health of the mothers showed that majority ( 88.89%)of mothers reported social dysfunction and half (59.26%) of them showed symptoms of anxiety/insomnia and around 29.63% stated to have somatic symptoms. The results on stress resiliency profile showed that the percentage of mothers who were in the stress resilient category included 33.33% deficiency focusing, 22.22 % necessitating, 44.44% skill recognition. Similarly the ones who were close to average use of each habit were 44.44 % who reported of deficiency focusing, 37.04 % necessitating and 37.04 % of skill recognition. The mothers who were in the stress predisposing category included 33.33 % were the ones who reported of using deficiency focusing, 29.63 % necessitating and 18.52 % of skill recognition.