This study aims to identify the perception of maternal self-efficacy among 95 Kuwaiti mothers of children with Developmental Disabilities (DD) to determine the differences in perception of maternal self-efficacy variables among the mothers based on demographic variables: Child's age, Gender, Type of disability, Leisure time, and Mother's age. A survey was conducted using Kandari's (2005, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Simmons College, Boston) Arabic version of the Caregiving Self-Efficacy Scale. The mothers were selected from different special education settings in Kuwait. They had 33 children with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities (IDD), 41 with Down Syndrome, and 21 with autistic disorder. The children included both males and females, and ranged between the ages of 6 and 15. The findings showed that (1) mothers of children with DD did not differ in their beliefs about aspects of maternal self-efficacy according to the Child's age, Child's gender, and the Mother's age; (2) mothers of children with IDD, when compared to other mothers, had negative beliefs of all aspects of maternal selfefficacy; (3) mothers of children who did not attend a respite facility for an afternoon had negative beliefs of all aspects of maternal selfefficacy except for the child's behavioral management; and (4) all mothers' groups had negative beliefs about their ability to control their child's behavior and their own emotions. Implications are discussed to provide services for mothers to help them develop their adaptive skills and meet their children's needs, as well as their own.

This study aims to investigate demographic variables, contact-related correlates, and attitudes towards persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) among Kuwaiti high school students (N = 700). The study focuses on variables that few studies have investigated and attempts to raise awareness among social workers to advocate for the inclusion of people with IDD and reform social policy that would improve the inclusion in society. The adapted Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory-Revised (MRAI-R) was used. A set of demographic variables and known predictors of attitudes to people with IDD were tested in multivariate analyses. Except for age, differences in global attitudes were found to be a function of gender, knowing persons with IDD, intimacy, frequency of contact, intensity of contact, and knowledge of IDD. Higher levels of Contact-Intensity and higher age were associated with more positive attitudes on the Integration-Segregation, Social Distance, Private Rights, and Subtle Derogatory Beliefs subscales. These findings support the development of legislation aimed at promoting successful inclusion that contributes to positive attitudes of students towards a person with IDD.

Prospective educators who completed a course about social work with disabilities were participants in a study that investigated whether attitudes toward individuals with mental retardation (MR) would be enhanced by the information provided in the course. The quasi-experimental design of the study involved a control group together with a pretest and a posttest, and several demographic and experiential variables. The study used a version of the Mental Retardation Attitude Inventory-Revised that Kandari and Salih (in press) adapted for the Kuwaiti culture. Results revealed that the course did not influence students' attitudes toward individuals with MR. The authors discussed the findings in relation to determining the changes needed in the course's curriculum and evaluating the information provided for prospective educators in order for them to support the integration of individuals with MR into mainstream society.

The purpose of this research was to adapt Antonak and Harth's (1994) Mental Retardation Attitudes Inventory for the Kuwaiti culture and to investigate its four‐dimensional structure. The study also aimed at identifying a unidimensional subset of items besides examining the quality of the identified items and the overall inventory. The 34 ‐item adapted inventor y was administered to 56 4 college students. Item analysis indicated that 29 items have had good psychometric characteristics. However, the exploratory factor analysis, cross‐correlations of scale and item scores, and correlations among scales did not support the four‐dimensional structure of the adapted inventory. Further, the sample was split into two random halves. A uni‐dimensional subset of 20 items was identified in one sample by iterative factor analyzing the item data and discarding items with small loadings. The other sample was used to cross‐validate uni‐dimensionality of the identified items. Analysis indicated that scores of the 20‐item inventory have high Cronbach coefficient alpha, and high stability and generalizability coefficients. Partial support for the validity of the scores had been ascertained by comparing the scores of male and female students, and by regressing the inventor y scores on indicators of familiarity with individuals with mental retardation. Findings were discussed with reference to Kuwaiti culture. Over the last two decades, inclusion has internationally become a critical part of the reform efforts to improve the delivery of services to individuals with Mental Retardation (MR). This trend focuses on increasing the opportunities for the placement of these individuals in the same social and educational set tings as individuals without MR. The new arrangements for providing services have created challenges to people without disabilities concerning acceptance, integration, and inclusion of individuals with MR into the mainstream of society (Praisner, 2003). Many researchers (e.g. Priestly, 1998; Yazbeck McVilly & Parmenter, 2004) have convincingly argued that these challenges have their roots in the societal norms and values that concurrently developed throughout the unfolding history of the meaning of MR. As Priestly (1998) noted, although people with differences have existed in all societies, the degree to which they were integrated or excluded varied according to predominant cultural perceptions. Yazbeck, McVilly and Parmenter (2004) suggested that people's attitudes toward individuals with MR are socially constructed and are acquired through experience over time. Individuals with MR are often judged by people based on their disability instead of their whole lives and what they may accomplish and experience during their life (Blatt, 1987). Consequently, People may rely on false generalization and develop negative attitudes towards individuals with MR. Makas, Finnerty‐Fried, Sugafoos, and Reiss (1988) noted that for nondisabled persons, positive attitude toward people with disability is usually conceptualized as be...

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