Examination of Social Support, Burnout, and Hopelessness Levels Perceived by Mothers with Children in Need of Special Education in terms of Sociodemographic Characteristics: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Rural Region of Turkey

This study aimed to examine the perceived social support, burnout, and hopelessness levels among mothers with children with special educational needs in terms of socio-demographic characteristics. In this descriptive study, the target population was mothers of children with special educational needs residing in rural areas of Hakkari Province, located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The study data was collected using the Personal Information Form, Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale, Maslach Burnout Scale, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. The study included 95 voluntary participants, who were generally from low socioeconomic backgrounds and had low levels of education and income. According to the results of the study; As the education level increases, the perceived family and friend support of the mother increases. It has been observed that the perceived special human support of a civil servant mother is higher than that of a mother working in the private sector. It was determined that mothers with extended family type had higher perceived social support and lower burnout levels compared to mothers with nuclear and split family types. It was determined that the burnout levels of mothers with mentally retarded children were higher than those of mothers with physically disabled children. As a result, it was determined that as the social support perceived by the mothers increased, the level of burnout decreased, and as the burnout decreased, the hopelessness decreased. In line with this result, it was determined that social support is an important parameter in the prevention of burnout and hopelessness in mothers with children in need of special education.