Analysis of depression and anxiety in the mothers of children diagnosed of mental retardation

Being parent of a child with mental retardation might bring along psychological, social, economical and family issues. Mostly, mothers take the responsibility of giving the primal care of a child that comes into the world. This situation causes mothers to be affected in a psychological way. Within this framework, in the study, it is aimed to examine and compare sociodemographic characteristics, depression and anxiety levels of mothers of children with mental retardation. The population of the study that is prepared in accordance with the "Causal comparison research method", consists of the mothers of children that are diagnosed with mental retardation in Istanbul. The sample is composed of mothers of children aged between 4-18, who receives education with the diagnosis of mental retardation in Boğaziçi Special Education and Rehabilitation Center, which operates in the province of Istanbul. Mothers of 227 children with mental retardation aged between 4-18 participate in this study. According to the findings of the study, it was appointed that differences are seen in depression and anxiety levels of mothers according to the variables of their ages, personal times, quantity of children, level of monthly income and disability status. According to the variables of the child's duration of having special education, age, gender; mother's marital status, level of education and presence of care support, they did not predict the levels of depression and anxiety.