Comparison of anxiety and child-care education characteristics of mothers who have children with or without speech delays

Abstract Introduction: Speech delay in a child could be the cause and/or result of the emotional disorder. The child rearing attitude that the parents have accepted could have both positive and negative effects on the personality of the child. Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the sociodemographic features and the mothers' anxiety of children with speech delay. Methods: One hundred five mothers with children aged between 3 and 6 years with speech delays were included in the patient group, and 105 mothers who have children aged between 3 and 6 years with normal speech and language development were included in the control group. An information form questionnaire including demographic characteristics, the Family Life and Childrearing Attitude Scale (PARI - Parental Attitude Research Instrument) and Beck anxiety scale were requested from all mothers in the patient and the control groups. Results: In the current study, there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of gender (p = 0.001). According to Parental Attitude Research Instrument, the mean of mothers of the children with speech delays was higher than the mean of mothers of normal children in terms of the answers to overprotective mother aspect (p < 0.01). The mothers of children with speech delays had more overprotective motherhood attitudes; however, the difference in terms of the answers to the aspects of democratic attitude and provision of equality, refusal to be a housewife, husband-wife conflict, and suppression and discipline were not statistically significant. The Beck anxiety scale, a significant difference was detected between the two groups (p < 0.01). It was found that the mothers of children with speech delays had more severe levels of anxiety. Conclusion: The social structure of the family, the attitudes and the behaviors of the mother, and the anxiety levels of the mothers have important effects on child development. Thus, it is necessary to perform further studies related to speech delays, in which many factors play a role in the etiology.