A Comparative Study of Anhedonia among Parents of Children with and without Mental Retardation

Regarding the importance of pleasure in people`s psychological well-being and the quality of parents` care-taking behaviors, the present study compared the anhedonia among parents of children with or without mental retardation.

In this cross-sectional study, 52 parents were recruited to the study (27 parents of mentally-retarded children and 25 parents of healthy children) using the random-sampling method. Data were gathered using a questionnaire containing demographic characteristics and the Snaith–Hamilton`s Anhedonia items based on four factors and the 5-scale Likert. High score showed high capacity of pleasure. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed using the Cronbach's Alpha (0.86). Data were analyzed using the logistic regression, t-test, and descriptive statistics.

The results showed that parents of mentally-retarded children had lower scores in all factors of the anhedonia in compare with the parents of healthy children (p<0/001).

Parents with mentally-retarded children experienced anhedonia. It seems necessary to codify pedagogical patterns and to increase social supports for parents of mentally-retarded children.