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The Impact of an Abnormal Child upon the Parents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ann Gath*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford; now Consultant Child Psychiatrist, Borocourt Hospital, Wyfold, Reading, Berks RG4 9JD

Summary

Thirty families with a newborn mongol baby were matched with thirty families with a normal baby. Both groups were followed for eighteen months to two years and interviewed six times. Few differences could be found in the mental or physical health of the two groups of parents, but marital breakdown or severe marital disharmony was found in nine of the mongol families and in none of the controls.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977 

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