Coping Strategies of Parents of Mentally Retarded Children

Abstract

Raising a child who is mentally Retarded requires emotional strength and flexibility. The child has special needs in addition to the regular needs of all children, and parents can find themselves overwhelmed by various medical, caregiving and educational responsibilities. Support from family, friends, the community or paid caregivers is critical to maintaining balance in the home. Parents of mentally challenged children commonly experience a gamut of emotions over the years. The aim of the study was to assess the coping strategies of parents of mentally retarded children. Coping Checklist By Kiran Rao, Subukrishna and Prabhu, Coping Check list, (1989) was used to assess the coping. 250 parents of mentally retarded children were selected through purposive sampling technique from different MR centres of selected Urban area of North India. Majority of study subjects coping strategies score 99.6% was average and the least 0.4% was good but none of them had poor coping strategies score. Conclusion of the study suggests that there was need for support to parents who have severe MR children.