Comparison of Perceived Social Support and Mental Health of Mothers of Children with and without Hearing-Impairment

Studies showed that Families of children with hearing-impairment, especially mothers, face with more physical and psychological problems. The purpose of this study is the comparison of perceived social support and mental health of mothers of children with and without hearing-impairment. The sample of this study included 100 mothers in Babol city that were selected by cluster sampling method. Data gathered by Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and General Health Questionnaire. One-way analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression tests used for analyzing data. Findings show that there are significant differences between the perceived social support (p=0/003) and mental health (p=0/005) of mothers of children with and without hearing-impairment. There are significant relationships between perceived social support and mental health of mothers of children with and without hearing-impairment (p=0/01). Also, perceived social support predicts the changes of mental health with coefficient of % 56. According to findings, it seems that perceived social support can be improved by mental health of mothers of children with and without hearing-impairment. Therefore, it is recommended that health care experts and officials pay more attention to the mental health of mothers, especially mothers of children with hearing-impairment.