The relationship between social support, coping and stress resources of parents wife mentally handicapped children in the Cape Peninsula

Abstract

The impact a mentally handicapped child has on parents and family members can be seen as a stressful life event. Numerous studies have been implemented in an attempt to understand how these families cope. Families with mentally handicapped children face unique challenges and require assistance in helping them preserve a harmonious family life. Social support is regarded as an alternative resource that could help these families deal with raising a mentally handicapped child. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between social support, coping and stress resources of parents with mentally handicapped children in the Cape Town Metropolitan area' A sample (N:50) of parents with moderately to severely mentally handicapped children was drawn from three special care centres in the Cape Town Metropolitan area. The study utilized the short-form of the questionnaire on Resources and Stress (QRS-F), the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviour (ISSB) as well as the Network Orientation Scale (NOS) to measure the relationship between social support and stress and coping resources of parents with mentally handicapped children in the Cape. Town Metropolitan area. The quantitative results of this study were inconclusive as no statistically significant relationship between social support and coping and stress resources of parents with mentally handicapped children was found. The qualitative results, however, indicate that there is a positive relationship between the variables.