Investigating the mediating role of the child's positiveinfluence on the family in the relationship between psychologicalacceptance and acceptance of a mildly intellectual retarded child

The present study was to investigate the role of positive influence of the child on the family in the relationship between psychological acceptance and acceptance of the mentally retarded child.

This research was descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The statistical population of this research was all mothers with mentally retarded children living in Isfahan city in 2019, and 200 people were selected through convenience sampling based on number of samples to number of independent variables. The data gathered using Kansas inventory of parental perceptions (Behr, Murphy, and Summers, 1992), life transition scale (Lee, Hong, and Ju, 2012), and Acceptance and action Questionnaire-II (Bond, Hayes, and Zettel, 2011) and analyzed by correlation analysis and structural equations analysis using SMART_PLS3 software.

The results of the research showed that psychological acceptance both directly and through the positive effect of the child on the family has a significant positive effect on the acceptance of mentally retarded children (P<0.05). Also, the positive effect of the child on the family has a significant positive relationship with the acceptance of the mentally retarded child (P<0.05).

Based on the findings of the research, it can be said that educators of childcare centers for mentally retarded children should help children's acceptance by holding meetings for parents in order to increase psychological acceptance.