Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province
Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2025.
Saved in:
| Other Authors: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Pretoria
2025
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1869484010078470144 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Carbonatto, C L |
| author_browse | Carbonatto, C L |
| author_facet | Carbonatto, C L |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/107229 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-07-01T04:08:05.344Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/107229 The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province Carbonatto, C L chentelngoma@gmail.com Ngoma, Chentel Thulisile UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Children Intellectual disabilities Mental health Parents Psychosocial factors Mini Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2025. Intellectual disability is acknowledged as a significant contributor to the burden of disease, more specifically for children aged 5 years and younger. Children living with intellectual disability experience challenges that do not solely affect them but also their parents and everyone around them daily. In South Africa, information on intellectual disability and how it affects parents’ mental health appears to be absent in general, more specifically in rural areas such as Middleburg. The aim of the study was to explore and describe the psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga Province. The researcher conducted the study using a qualitative research approach, which was appropriate as the researcher aimed to answer questions about the psychosocial factors that parents face whilst caring for children living with intellectual disabilities. This applied research focused on understanding the nature of the parents’ mental health and how the psychosocial factors affect them whilst caring for a child living with intellectual disabilities. The study population comprised of parents who were caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga. The researcher arranged for the accessibility of the study population through the Mpumalanga Mental Health Society, as it is one of the outpatient centres that provides psychosocial services to the designated community. The sampling method used was non-probability purposive sampling, where seven participants were selected to participate in the study after they met the following inclusion criteria: had to be a parent, between 25-40 years of age, have a child under the age of 18, diagnosed with an intellectual disability, who has access to and receives services from Mpumalanga Mental Health Society, had to speak either English and Ndebele, as this was what the researcher spoke, and reside in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province. The researcher employed semi-structured one-on-one interviews, as this data collection strategy afforded greater flexibility for both the researcher and the participants concerning the interview schedule. Interviews were recorded with the permission of the participants for accurate data analysis. The findings of the study indicated that the psychosocial factors parents experience are inflicted by the lack of support systems and these challenges are not only attributed to this, but to different aspects such as general understanding and acceptance of intellectual disabilities, challenges and experiences of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities, resources and long term plans that parents require when caring for their children with intellectual disabilities, their psychological and emotional experiences and coping strategies. The study found that parents were not entirely aware that their children were living with intellectual disability and found that most parents are informed about the diagnosis at a later developmental stage of the child. It has also been revealed that parents have difficulty in managing life situations whilst caring for their children due to unemployment, stigma and discrimination, which creates isolation for the parents and children with intellectual disability. For parents, this study revealed that they do not have access to support services from professionals, due to their own circumstances of not being able to leave their children with close neighbours or family members, and as a result, this affects parents emotionally and can negatively affect their children with intellectual disability. The need for developing programs such as group-resilience interventions to enhance support systems for parents caring for children with intellectual disabilities is highlighted. It is recommended that social workers focus on the implementation of support groups to ensure that parents are indeed benefiting from them. Recommendations for future research are made. Social Work and Criminology MSW (Healthcare) Unrestricted Faculty of Humanities SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities 2025-12-12T09:06:49Z 2025-12-12T09:06:49Z 2026-04 2025-08-31 Mini Dissertation * April 2026 (A2026) http://hdl.handle.net/2263/107229 10.25403/UPresearchdata.30858350 en © 2024 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Children Intellectual disabilities Mental health Parents Psychosocial factors The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province |
| title | The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province |
| title_full | The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province |
| title_fullStr | The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province |
| title_short | The Psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in Middleburg, Mpumalanga province |
| title_sort | psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of parents caring for children living with intellectual disabilities in middleburg mpumalanga province |
| topic | UCTD Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Children Intellectual disabilities Mental health Parents Psychosocial factors |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/107229 |