Abstract: This study aims to determine whether a difference exists between the hopelessness levels of mothers with and without disabled children and whether the hopelessness levels of mothers with disabled children depend on children�s sex, birth order, type of disability, age, reactions given at the time of diagnosis and actions taken thereafter. The sample comprised 150 mothers, 75 of whom had disabled children attending special education and rehabilitation centers in K r ehir and the remaining 75 of whom had children with regular development attending standard primary schools. Demographic data was collected using a "General Information Form" and data about mothers� hopelessness levels was collected using "Beck Hopelessness Scale". The data was then analyzed using Mann Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests. The results suggested that the hopelessness levels of mothers with disabled children were higher than others. Additionally, it was found that mothers who were shocked at the diagnosis or were looking for solutions on their own experienced higher hopelessness levels than others and that hopelessness did not depend on children�s sex, birth order, type of disability or age.
R.Ceylan and N.Aral , 2007. Hopelessness Levels of Mothers with and Without Disabled Children . Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 4: 746-750.