Anxiety of Parents of Mentally Handicapped Children and Affects of Informing on Anxiety Level

AIM: This study was aimed to determine effect of education on anxiety level in the parents with mentally handicapped children. METHOD: The quasi-experimental field study was performed on parents of 91 mentally handicapped children who are between 6-15 ages and live in the center of Karaman. State and Trait Anxiety Scale was applied before and after informing. RESULTS: Average age of mothers was 36.5±7.2, average state anxiety point was 47.2±13.4 and average trait anxiety point was 51.9±10.1; their father’s average age was 40.2±8.6, average state anxiety point was 35.9±6.5 and average trait anxiety point was 41.3±6.2. Anxiety points of mothers are higher. Mothers who are graduated from primary school, younger than 35 age, have a boy or child younger than 12 age, have social assurance, do not take institutional service, have low family income, and whose first or last child is mentally handicapped, whose husband do not help with caring child have significant decrease in anxiety points after informing. In the fathers, only a decrease in the trait anxiety level was significant. CONCLUSION: Education decreases the parents’ anxiety level. Institutional services have to contain all of the mentally handicapped children and should be educated the parents by nurses periodically to decrease their anxiety.

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