Maternal resilience in mothers caring for children with intellectual disabilities in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

Abstract

Maternal resilience was analyzed among mothers caring for children with intellectual disabilities who receive services through public special education programs (CAM and USAER) in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. Personal mediators—hopelessness, spiritual faith, and rejection of personal responsibility—and environmental mediators—lack of partner support, lack of institutional support, and limited resources—were evaluated. Drawing from a feminist epistemology, resilience is conceptualized as a relational and situated process. Employing a mixed-methods, non-experimental, and cross-sectional design, the EBRM-20 scale was administered to 15 mothers, supplemented by three individual interviews and a focus group. The results reveal high levels of personal resilience, despite fragile support networks and conditions of vulnerability.