Parents' Expectations About Future Outcomes of Children with MR in Kenya

Abstract

This study defined and validated three constructs of parents' expectations about future outcomes for children with mental retardation in Kenya: adult responsibilities, community membership, and educational attainment. The purpose was to investigate changes in these constructs across child's gender and severity of mental retardation. Using a maximum-likelihood confirmatory factor analysis on a questionnaire developed for the purposes of this study, it was found that the hypothesized model of parents' expectations was adequate and fit with data. Gender differences in favor of boys were found for the parents' expectations about future adult responsibilities and educational attainment, but not about community membership. Overall, parents' expectations about future outcomes for children with severe mental retardation were much lower than those for children with mild or moderate mental retardation. However, there was also an interaction between the child's gender and level of mental retardation for the parents' expectations about the child's educational attainment.