Factors influencing the expectations of parents for their mentally retarded children

In terms of treatment for cure, education, training and general information, parental expectations for their mentally retarded children are influenced by various factors such as the age and sex of the retarded child, the level of mental retardation, the education and occupation of the parents, and the socio-economic status and area of living. In the present study, an attempt has been made to find out the correlation of six variables namely, age, sex, literacy, locality of living, level of retardation and duration of follow-up on the expectation of one hundred parents of mentally retarded children who attend the home-based services at the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped, Secunderabad, India. The intercorrelation among the six independent variables and the dependent variable revealed that age of the child and duration of follow-up have a high correlation (P < 0.01), and literacy of the parents and duration of follow-up were positively correlated (P < 0.05 level). It was also found that age and duration of follow-up have a positive correlation. Further detailed multiple regression analysis was conducted and the results are discussed.