The modeling of psychological well-being of mothers with mentally retarded children by coping strategies, family needs and social support

The purpose of this study was to develop a structural equation model explaining the psychological well being of mothers with mentally retarded children by ways of coping, family needs and perceived social support variables. The sample of the study was composed of mothers with mentally retarded children aged 15 to 25, living in İzmir. The data of the study was collected through Psychological Well Being Scale (Diener et al., 2010), Ways of Coping (Folkman and Lazarus, 1985), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet et al., 1988) and Family Needs Survey (Bailey and Simeonsson, 1988). The analysis of the structural equation model revealed that problem focused coping and perceived social support were positively related to psychological well being whereas emotion focused coping and family needs were negatively related. Additionally, perceived social support was found to have a mediator role in the relationships between psychological well being and problem focused coping and family needs. The findings were discussed in the light of literature and some suggestions were submitted for both practitioners and researchers. Keywords: psychological well being, ways of coping, family needs, perceived social support, structural equation modeling