Associations of social support and hardiness with mental health among mothers of adult children with intellectual disability

aims: (1) to examine the mental health, resources and stress among mothers who keep their adult child at home vs. those who choose placement in a community arrangement; and (2) to assess the associations of mothers' resources and stress with mental health. METHOD: A sample of 100 mothers (mean age 60.67 years) of adult children with intellectual disability, 50% of whom had been placed in a community arrangement were asked to complete questionnaires measuring mental health, stress, hardiness and social support. RESULTS: The comparisons between mothers who had placed their adult child in a community arrangement and those who had kept their child at home showed no significant differences for most indicators. Mental health, stress, hardiness and social support were highly intercorrelated, as expected, and hierarchical regression analyses indicated independent effects of stress, hardiness and out-of-home placement on mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that strengthening personal and social resources of mothers of adult children with developmental disabilities may be beneficial for their mental health.