The Social Environment and the Adaptation of Mothers of Physically Handicapped Children

Evaluated relationships between social environmental characteristics and adaptation in 50 mothers of congenitally physically handicapped 6- to 11-year-old children. Mothers reported on utilitarian resources, child adjustment, psychosocial family resources, service utilization, and three dimensions of adaptation. Analyses of the concurrent correlational design indicated significant proportions of the variance in mental and social functioning were explained by features of the social environment. Mother's physical health could not be significantly predicted. Consistently strong contributions were made by psychosocial family resources in all adaptation domains.