The Stress, Social Support and Burden of Mothers of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

The aim of this study was to determine family stress, social support and caregiver burden of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. The study was designed as a descriptive study involved 104 mothers of children with intellectual disabilities. Three instruments were used: Questionnaire on Resources and Stress-Turkish, Revised-Parental Social Support Scale and Family Burden Assesment Scale. Results showed that there was a significant negative linear relation among social support levels and its dimensions, satisfaction from support types, stress and burden. In other words, as mothers’ perceived social support increased, family stress and caregiver burden decreased.