Effects of social support levels on burden of care and quality of life of parents that have mentally handicapped children

Aim: The aim of the study is to examine relationship between perceived social support (SS) and burden of care (BoC) and quality of life (QoL) of parents having mentally handicapped children. Methods: The research was carried out cross-sectional. The study population are parents having with mentally disabled child. Three special education schools were selected for the research. 111 parents are selected randomly. Sociodemographic form, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview and World Health Organization Quality of Life scale short form were used in the study. SPSS 15.0 and Stata 14.0 were used in the analysis. Results: 59,5% of the children of the children were male, the average age was 9,3±4,2, 57,7% of the children are mild handicapped. 91,9% of the parents are the mother of the disabled child. The average age is 37,9±6,0, 50,5% of the participants were primary school graduates. According to univariate analysis results, there were negative significant correlation between the BoC and QoL (physical, mental, social and environmental dimension scores -0,46, -0,53, -0,26, -0,40 respectively), and were positive significant correlation between SS and QoL (0,29, 0,25, 0,78, 0,50 respectively). In multivariate analysis, the BoC is significant relationship on the physical, mental and environmental dimensions of QoL; additionally, SS has a significant relationship with physical, social and environmental dimension of QoL (p<0,05). Conclusion: Parents with disabilities have a significant impact on both QoL and SS. Social support can't remove the negative impact of the BoC on QoL.