IMAGES OF OWN FUTURE OF MOTHERS HAVING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES

Abstract

The article presents the results of research on images of own future for mothers having children without health problems and with disabilities. The studied time perspective and content of adults’ images show that both groups are future oriented.The differences in the psychological characteristics and time perception of the mothers having children without health problems and with disabilities are the following: the mothers having children with disabilities are more negatively perceive the past and estimate higher the present (both hedonistic and fatalistic); mothers having children without health problems percept the past more positively.The content of images of the future presented by the mothers having children with disabilities is characterized by emphasis on the health of their children and family, on their desire to be more “stronger”, to have more full-fledged life.There is the statistically significant difference between the groups concerning time perception, namely, the mothers having children with disabilities perceive the past negatively and the present (hedonistic and fatalistic) more positively; the mother having children without health problems have a higher level of awareness of life, higher indicators of locus of control, but lower self-actualization, lower personal anxiety; whereas the mothers having children with disabilities have higher self-actualization (especially for synergy and human nature), higher anxiety (both reactive and personal).The peculiarities of time perception are determined by the psychological characteristics of mothers (their awareness of life and its components, self-actualization and its components), which is reflected in multiple correlations.