Abstract
The purpose of this study was to develop data useful in counselling mothers of mentally retarded children. Anxiety levels of 78 mothers of mentally retarded children attending special schools in Tokyo and 78 in Seoul were measured, using the Cattell Anxiety Scale, the Parent-Child Relation Test, and questionnaires on psychological pressures experienced by the mothers. Data were analyzed using Hayashi's Quantification Theory Family 1 and multiple regression analysis, in order to determine the factors affecting the mothers' anxiety. Factors that might result in different psychological pressures on mothers in the two cities were studied, as well as factors common to the two environments and those factors characteristic of each of them. The results showed that mothers in Tokyo reported less anxiety for their mentally retarded children than did mothers in Seoul. No significant difference was found between the two cities on demographic characteristics such as the age of the mentally retarded children in the families studied, but significant differences were found in the social conditions of the mentally retarded children, such as the number of agencies their mothers consulted with, and in the mothers' attitudes toward their retarded children. However, in both cities, the mothers' attitudes toward their children were rejecting and overprotective; this is typical of mothers of mentally retarded children. Results from the measures of the mothers' complaints and of psychological pressures on the mothers about the situation of their mentally retarded children, and results from the measures of the circumstances of the mother, the family, and the community, also showed that, in both cities, the mothers report feeling more psychological pressure about "how to bring up their children" and "how to deal with the community circumstances", but less pressure from "family circumstances". Hayashi's Quantification Thery Family 1 and the multiple regression analysis revealed that the items reported in both cities as being perceived to produce anxiety were "health of the mother", "the number of agencies consulted", and "anxiety about possible problems of the mentally retarded child's siblings". However, Tokyo mothers reported more than Seoul mothers did that they worry about educational institutions, while Seoul mothers reported more than Tokyo mothers did that they worry about having to admit that their child is mentally retarded.
