Responses from a questionnaire regarding perceived maternal competence in child-rearing skills from infancy through adolescence were analyzed for 121 mothers of children with Down syndrome and 222 mothers of children with no delays. Results indicated that mothers of children with Down syndrome were similar to mothers of children with no delays in many respects. However, mothers of infants with Down syndrome felt more competent in child-rearing than mothers of infants with no delays, while mothers of school-age children with Down syndrome felt less competent than their counterparts. In general, there was a trend for mothers of children with Down syndrome to feel a decreasing sense of competency as they raised their children. The health status of the child and maternal satisfaction of support systems were also studied to explore whether these factors influenced maternal competency levels in the mothers of children with Down syndrome. Implications of the results for intervention programs and the direction of future research were discussed.
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