Caretaking burden and social support: comparison of mothers of infants with and without disabilities.

Data concerning mothers' perceptions of child caretaking burden, fathers' participation in child caretaking, and satisfaction with social support were analyzed for a 202 member sample consisting of mothers of infants with Down syndrome, motor impairment, developmental delay, and no known disabilities. The results were contrary to some common findings from the literature. Significant differences among the four groups were found on difficulty of and time devoted to caretaking, number of tasks with which fathers helped, and satisfaction with support from family, friends, and community groups. The programmatic and policy implications of these findings were discussed.