Effectiveness of counselling on the attitudes of mothers towards their children with intellectual disability

Abstract

Mothers of children with intellectual disability have more negative attitudes towards them compared with mothers' of normally developing children. If attitudes of mothers are negative, psychological intervention for their children may be less effective. The primary aim of this study was to compare the attitudes of mothers before and after psychological counselling to change their negative attitudes. Thirty-two mothers of children with mild intellectual disability participated in eight individual counselling sessions. The Binet-Kamat Test of General Mental ability was used to measure the children's intellectual quotient and The Parental Attitude Scale was used to measure the attitudes of mothers towards their children with mild intellectual disability. Results showed that mothers who exhibited higher negative attitudes, such as over-protection, domination, rejection, hostility, acceptance, permissiveness, education and future, and home-management in the pre-assessment showed significant reduction in their negative attitudes in the post-assessment after they had participated in psychological counselling. Overall, the psychological counselling was effective in modifying mothers' negative attitudes towards their children with intellectual disability.