Abstract:

Interview data gathered from older mothers (N = 235, mean age 70.3) of adult offspring with retardation, living in N.Y. are used to identify patterns & correlates of the extent to which their families either used, knew about, needed, or had unmet needs for 17 family support services. Although usage/need varied across services, overall level of service use was low despite high knowledge. Also, the number of services needed exceeded number of services actually used. Greater service use occurred when offspring were younger & female, were in lower-income households, & were receiving high levels of care from mothers who reported higher subjective burden & self-reported health. Families had larger unmet service needs when mothers were married, received less assistance from any children without mental retardation, & reported higher levels of subjective burden.