Abstract

The purpose of this study is to show the correlation between the present social support offered to mothers of handicapped children and their mental health, particularly, depressive tendency. The subjects were 169 mothers whose handicapped children attended G Hospital & Home for Handicapped Children. They were asked to fill out questionnaires about social support and mental health. The result showed that, concerning their children's handicaps, 46 mothers had experineces of being blamed by their husbands or other people, and 76 mothers always or sometimes blamed themselves. The average THI-D score of these mothers was significantly higher than that of other mothers' (p<0.01). Much more social support for mothers was given by their hasbands, and by their parents, brothers and sisters, or other relatives. The mothers' depressive tendency correlated with the social support by their hasbands and mothers' blaming themselves (each, β=-0.304, p<0.01; P=0.284, p<0.01).