A comparative study of mothers’ beliefs and childrearing behaviour: The effect of the child’s disability and the mother’s educational level

The article presents the results of a data analysis intended to examine the relationship between children’s personality, maternal beliefs and childrearing behaviour and various disabilities on the one hand (mildly, moderate or severe mental handicap, sensorial handicap, developmental disabilities) and mothers’ educational level on the other. Data were taken from 102 mothers of disabled children between the ages of three and six. The children came from the Walloon Region of Belgium and were regularly counselled by an early intervention team (Services d’Aide Précoce — SAP). Variance analyses were performed on questionnaire data from the total sample (n=102). The questionnaires were based on the Five Factor Model of personality rating (Roskam, de Maere-Gaudissart, & Vandenplas-Holper, 2000), and on Sameroff’s levels of parental development for the rating of maternal beliefs. Factorial correspondence analyses were also performed on maternal self-reported childrearing behaviour as described in 50 interviews with mothers, analysed with a coding gird.