Research on parenting by mentally retarded persons.

This article focuses on research related to the assessment and training of parenting competencies of persons with mental retardation and the status of the children being raised by retarded parents. Previous findings and that of our own investigations suggest that (1) children of mentally retarded parents are at risk for language and cognitive delays, mental retardation, maltreatment, and neglect; (2) child development is highly correlated with the quality of the home environment and mother-child interactions; (3) retarded mothers provide less positive interactions with their children during play than do nonretarded mothers; and (4) retarded mothers can be taught to improve their child-rearing skills.