VIEWPOINT OF PARENTS HAVING HANDICAPPED CHILDREN TO THE HANDICAP AND DETERMINING THEIR ANXIETY LEVELS
VİEWPOİNT OF PARENTS HAVİNG HANDİCAPPED CHİLDREN TO THE HANDİCAP AND DETERMİNİNG THEİR ANXİETY LEVELS
Additional responsibilities, problems, emotional problems that the handicapped child brings to the family are important subjects to focus on. The society conscious can only be reached by taking and implementing permanent and controlled measures with the cooperation of qualified experts studying in this filed. It is organized for determining that on which areas the anxiety levels of the families about having handicapped children is focused and the reasons for these anxities. 105 mothers and 15 fathers of children aged between 1–20 who have been diagnosed to be handicapped, registered in Private Education Centers of Ministry of National Education were taken as examples. About the handicapped children and their familieis, the tools of “Information Form”, “Family Anxiety and Concern Inventory” whose validity–reliability studies were going on, “Situational–Perpetual Anxiety Inventory were used. The data got was evaluated by using SPSS programme, and the percentages, one way variance analysis, gap between two averages were analysed by importance testing. 64,17% of parents had undergone antenatal care, 33,34% were relatives, among the relatives of 46,67% there were handicapped people. 58,33% didn’t end the pregnancy despite the diagnosis. 42,444 points on average were got from “Family Anxiety Scale, 42,861 points were got from Stai-tx1 and 49,222 points were got from Stai-tx2. Each family had anxieties depending on their own truths. In terms of net points, Stai-tx2 was found different at a level of 0,01 statistically (family anxiety, stai-tx1) (p<0,01). When the anxeity levels of the families were compared according to the hancap level of their children, it was seen that there is not a meaningful difference. According to the situation of number of children of the families other than their handicapped children and informing them about the diagnosis, the difference between family anxiety scale average points was meaningfully at p<0,05. Following/Scanning depending on the growing is very important. The genetical testings shall be realized at an early stage and commonized at at first grade health centers. It is important to give importance to the parent education.
KEY WORDS: Down syndrome, stability-continuous anxiety, handicapped children, parent of handicapped children, Anxiety, cerebral palcy, mentally retardation