Mary Elizabeth Hannah

The generous elderly: Naturalistic studies of donations across the life span.

The relation between age and altruism was examined in two experiments conducted in naturalistic settings. In both studies, individuals from 5 to over 75 years of age had opportunities to donate money to a charity concerned with the welfare of infants with birth defects. The effect of a variable designed to evoke the needs rule was also observed by using both pregnant and nonpregnant charitable solicitors. Results of both studies yielded a significant main effect of solicitor condition on donations. Study 1 yielded a linear increase with age in numbers of people donating; however, retired persons generally donated less money than did younger adults. In Study 2, which controlled for financial costs, elderly persons proved to be the most generous. These results underscore the importance of personal resources and helping opportunities in influencing altruism among older persons.

Helping by siblings of children with mental retardation

Our purpose for conducting this investigation was to extend the research on the help that siblings of children with mental retardation give to their brothers and sisters to include not only custodial care, but also other forms of helping behavior, such as emotional support, tangible aid, and information giving. We compared 100 siblings (50 with and 50 without a brother or sister with mental retardation) in terms of their perceived helping behavior. Siblings of brothers and sisters with mental retardation engaged in higher levels of perceived emotional support and custodial care but not information giving or tangible aid. Perceived custodial care and emotional support were associated with gender, the childs need for assistance, and self-esteem.

Competence and Adjustment of Siblings of Children With Mental Retardation

Adjustment and competence of siblings who had a brother or sister with mental retardation were compared to those of control siblings who had brothers or sisters with no disabilities. Results indicated no overall differences for internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, or for self-esteem and competence based on group membership, gender, or gender match. However, boys with a brother or sister with mental retardation had difficulty in school functioning. In addition, a greater number of girls with brothers and sisters with mental retardation expressed their distress through internalization.

Mainstreaming: Parental perceptions

Parents of learning disabled, mentally retarded, and emotionally disturbed children were surveyed regarding their reactions to mainstreaming handicapped children. Results indicated that parents of learning disabled children were significantly more supportive of this educational procedure than were the other two groups of parents. Possible reasons for this difference are discussed.

Siblings of Children with Mental Retardation: The Role of Helping

Abstract We present the argument that the helping behavior of typical siblings of children with mental retardation may promote their positive adaptation. We begin by reviewing literature on the positive and negative impacts of having a brother or sister with mental retardation, followed by a summary of factors associated with psychosocial adjustment, and methodological considerations which may help explain inconsistencies among study findings. We then present theoretical and empirical perspectives on the nature and consequences of helping by typical siblings, and consider proposed links between helping in the family context and well‐being of the typical sibling.