SOME ASPECTS OF AETIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF, AND PARENTAL ATTITUDES TO,MENTAL RETARDATION IN GHANA

ABSTRACT The aims of the studies presented in this paper were to investigate the causes of mental retardation in Ghana and the attitude of parents towards their mentally retarded children. There was the need for this type of investigation because what people think is the cause of mental retardation affects their attitude towards it. The sample comprised 120 rural and urban literate and illiterate parents and their mentally retarded children. A questionnaire was used for investigating the causes of mental retardation. In addition to this questionnaire, the case records of the mentally retarded children whose parents were used for the study were examined for more reliable information on the causes of mental retardation. It was found that the major causes of mental retardation in the children studied were epilepsy, brain injury, birth trauma and Down's syndrome. The following hypotheses were tested in the study on parental attitudes. 1- Literate parents will have a more positive attitude towards their mentally retarded children than illiterate parents. 2. Urban parents will have a more positive attitude towards their mentally retarded children than rural parents. 3. Mothers will have a more positive attitude towards their mentally retarded children than fathers. 4. Parents of children with mild retardation will have a more positive attitude than parents of children with moderate and severe retardation whilst parents of children with moderate retardation will have a more positive attitude than parents of children with severe retardation. A modified version of the Thurston Sentence Completion Form (TSCF) was used for the study on parental attitudes. The main conclusions from the results obtained from the statistical analyses were that education and urbanization have no effect on the attitude of parents towards their mentally retarded children. Fathers were found to have more positive attitude towards their mentally retarded children than mothers and the degree of retardation did not have any effect on the attitude of parents towards their mentally retarded children.