Master's Theses

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Abstract

This study was designed to test two specific hypotheses: (1) the mother of a severely mentally retarded child will become aware of the child’s retardation earlier than the mother of a mildly mentally retarded child. And (2) the mildly mentally retarded child will be seen for more psychological evaluations than will the severely mentally retarded child. Forty-four mothers were contacted, 27 of whom participated in the study. Mental retardation in their children had been determined by prior evaluation at the Psychological Service Center, Fort Hays Kansas State College. The mothers were interviewed and four areas involving the mother's perception of the child's mental retardation were investigated: (a) the age of the child when mental retardation first became apparent to the mother, (b) the number of psychological evaluations made of the mentally retarded child, (c) the professional identity of the informant first telling the mother of her child's mental retardation, and (d) the attitudes of the mother as measured by the Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI).

Keywords

Mothers, Developmental disability, Psychology, Interviews, Children, Investigate

Advisor

Dr. Stanley C. Mahoney

Date of Award

Summer 1961

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Rights

© The Author(s)

Comments

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