A Comparative Study of Psycho-Social Factors among the Mothers of Male and Female Mentally Challenged Children

For the normal mental and social development of all children it is essential that the early emotional attachment and exchange of perceptions and experiences between children and their parents should take place. Early detection of impairments and developing strategies to uphold the normal development of the child is a primary and extremely important step in addressing problems associated with disabilities. Parents especially mothers often suffer from psychological problems that arise from disabilities of their children. The problems faced by the mothers of the children said to differ according to the gender of the mentally challenged child. The study is focused on determining the level of Subjective Well-Being, Social Support, Hope, Stress and Coping of the mothers of male and female mentally retarded children. Among the total sample, 50 mothers were of male mentally challenged children and 50 mothers were of female mentally challenged children. After the administration of the tests, scores were obtained and statistical measures like mean, SD, standard error of difference and t-ratio were applied. It was observed that mothers of male mentally challenged perceived significantly more subjective wellbeing and feeling of hopein comparison to the mothers of female mentally challenged children no significant difference was observed in the level of social support, stress and coping. Implications of the study were stated.