Predictors the quality of life and psychological well-being of mothers of students with intellectual disability mediated by the mother's perceived social support

Many studies have been conducted on behavioral problems and social skills with quality of life and psychological well-being, but there is a research gap on the above variables as predictors of quality of life and psychological well-being mediated by perceived social support.

The aim of this study was to investigate the predictors of quality of life and psychological well-being of mothers of students with intellectual disability mediated by the mother's Perceived Social Support.

In this descriptive-correlational study, 298 students (out of 878 students) from primary schools with students with intellectual disability in Golestan province, in the academic year 1398-1399, were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling.The instruments used in the study were: The Children,s behavior questionnaire (Rutter,1967), Social skills scale (Matson et al, 1983), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support(Zimet et al, 1988), Quality Of Life (World Health Organization, 1994), and Psychological Wellbeing Scale (Ryff, 1980). Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test and structural equation modeling.

The results showed that social skills and perceived social support positively and significantly and behavioral problems negatively and significantly predict quality of life and psychological well-being. The mediating role of perceived social support in relation to social skills and behavioral problems with quality of life and psychological well-being was also confirmed (P<0.01).

Based on the research findings, it can be concluded that increasing social skills and reducing students' behavioral problems in school improves the quality of life and psychological well-being of their mothers.