Parents of children and adolescents with severe mental retardation: Stress, family resources, normalization, and their application for out-of- home placement

The study examined out-of-home applications of 88 Israeli parents who had younger children and adolescents with severe mental retardation and, in particular, the question of whether parental application for placement is a function of their marital status, level of education, children's age, and parental stress, family environment (climate), social support, and attitudes toward normalization. Multiple regression analysis showed that five predictors had significant correlations with parental application: parental stress (high), social support (less), attitudes toward normalization (favorable), family environment or climate (low), and children's age (adolescents). However, only the first three predictors (stress, social support, and attitudes toward normalization) contributed to the model of prediction of placement.