Relationship between mental hardiness and emotional adjustment with emotional intelligence of Mothers with a mentally retarded child

  Introduction: Mental hardiness and adaptability have a major role in increasing the ability of Mothers with a mentally retarded child. Mothers with special children should have high emotional intelligence to take care of these children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mental hardiness and emotional adjustment with emotional intelligence in mothers of mentally retarded children. Methods: This research was a correlational study. The sample consisted of 136 mothers of mentally retarded children in Rasht city of Rasht who were selected by available sampling method. The instrument used in the research was a questionnaire of 27 items of psychological hardiness Ahwaz, a 32-item questionnaire of emotional empowerment Bell and a questionnaire of 33 items of Emotional Intelligence Shoot.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency and percent), and inferential statistics (multiple regression, Pearson correlation coefficient) and analyzed using SPSS 20 software. Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that the correlation between mental hardiness and emotional adjustment with emotional intelligence of mothers of exceptional mental retardation children was statistically significant (p <0.01). Also, the results of regression show that psychological hardiness and emotional adjustment can explain 33% of the variance of emotional intelligence of mothers of exceptional children with mental retardation (criterion variable). The psychological hardiness with a standard B-value of 260 and emotional adaptation with the standard B value of 382/0 have been able to directly predict the emotional intelligence of mothers of exceptional children with mental retardation (p <0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that increasing mental hardiness and increasing emotional adaptability in mothers of mentally retarded children also increase their emotional intelligence. The results of this research can be used in counseling centers for education and well-being centers.