Comparison of self-esteem, mental health and psychological well-being of mothers of mentally retarded and normal children in Rasht

This study aimed to compare self-esteem, mental health and psychological well-being in mothers of normal children and mothers of educable mentally retarded children. The research method was causal-comparative. The study population consisted of all mothers of normal and educable mentally retarded children with the age range of 7 to 12 years old in Rasht in 2016-2017. Subjects were 80 mothers of mentally retarded children selected using available sampling method and based on the numbers of samples in different articles with 80 mothers of normal children in a matched method (based on age and educational level). To collect data, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Reef 18-items psychological well-being questionnaire were used. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics such as multivariate and one-way variance analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study showed a significant difference between self-esteem and psychological well-being of mothers of mentally retarded and normal children (P <0.05). However, there was no significant difference between mental health of mothers of mentally retarded and normal children (P ≥0.05). It seems that the self-esteem and psychological well-being of mothers of mentally retarded children are endangered in the care and education of these children