THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENT’S ROLE WITH INDEPENDENCE OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL RETARDATION DURING PANDEMIC

Introduction: The role of parents is important as a stimulus that can increase the independence of children with mental retardation to perform everyday activities. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship of the role of parent with independence of children with mental retardation during the pandemic in Waibakul Insclusive School District of Central Sumba. Method: The study used a correlation analytic method with cross sectional approach. Study population was 40 parents who have children with mental retardation in Waibakul inclusive school District of Central Sumba and the research sample as many as 40 respondents with total sampling technique. Data collection used the instrument form of questionnaires the role of parents and the questionnaire independence of the child with mental retardation from previous studies. Data analyzed with Fisher Exact test. Results: The results of the research prove the majority of 21 (52,5%) respondents gave the role to children with mental retardation during the pandemic the category of less and most of the 22 (55,0%) children with mental retardation experience the independence of the category of dependence. The results of the Fisher Exact test showed a significant relationship, the role of parents with the independence of children with mental retardation during the pandemic in Waibakul inclusive school District of Central Sumba obtained p value (0,000) < (0,05). Conclusions: There is a significant relationship between parent role with the independence of children with mental retardation during the pandemic in Waibakul insclusive school District of Central Sumba. Further research is expected to provide direct counseling to parents who have children with mental retardation in order to provide enough role to their child that aims to support the independence of children.


INTRODUCTION
Mental retardation is different from normal children, because parents are responsible and help develop social adaptive behavior to support children's independence (Rina Mariani, 2016). Mental retardation is one of the behavioral disorders of social adaptation for the age of the child who has difficulty adjusting to the surrounding community. Behavior in children with mental retardation is different from normal behavior in ordinary children. The behavior that appears in that children are busy with themselves so they do not respond to stimuli from their environment, this can hinder their potential (Pujiani & Muniroh, 2017).
Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in 2019, the number of children with mental retardation in the world is around 1-2 per 1,000 births, while in Indonesia in 2019 there are 2.4 million children in Indonesia with mental retardation with an age range of around 5-19 year. Children with mental retardation in East Nusa Tenggara Province in 2019 as many as 27,054 people and in District of Central Sumba as many as 5,052 children, this proves that there are still many children born with mental retardation so that it becomes a problem for parents who take care of them (Kurniasih, 2014).
The role of parents during the pandemic is very important in training and educating their children in the development process. The role of parents in mentally retarded children includes exploring the potential in the child, giving motivation and rewards if the child can take action correctly (Rumaseb et al., 2018). The role of parents in guiding and educating children. (Rina Mariani, 2016) The results of research conducted by Dewi (2017) prove that the role of parents is very important to support the independence of mentally retarded children in carrying out activities. Mentally retarded children have limitations such as difficulty in taking care of themselves and cannot carry out daily activities properly so they need help from their parents (Dewi, 2017). Hutasoit & Sartika (2018) research explains that parents play a role in nurturing, guiding, helping and directing mentally retarded children to become independent. Independence of mentally retarded children as a form of ability to carry out daily activities without the help of others such as eating, drinking, using clothes, going to the toilet and cleaning themselves (Hutasoit, M., & Sartika, 2018).
Based on an interview on July 8, 2021 at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba with 10 children with mental retardation, it was found that 8 children could not answer when asked how they were and were afraid when approached, while 2 children could answer when asked. The results of an interview on July 8, 2021 with a teacher at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba, explained that currently school activities are mostly at home because they are still carrying out the Covid 19 health protocol, this causes parents to play a role in guiding their children at home such as teaching reading and writing. , and have sufficient time to interact with children and guide mentally retarded children in carrying out daily activities. The role of parents is very important to support the independence of mentally retarded children in carrying out daily activities. Based on the background, the researcher was motivated to conduct a study entitled "the relationship between the role of parents and the independence of mentally retarded children during the pandemic at inclusive school of Waibakul, District of Central Sumba".

Design
This study used a correlation analytic design with cross sectional approach to determine the linear relationship between two or more variables.

Population and sampling
The population in this study were all parents who have child with mental retardation at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba as many as 40 people based on data from July 2021 with total sampling method. The sampling criteria in this study are (1) Parents who have children with mental retardation at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba, (2) will able to be a respondent by filling out Informed Consent, (3) complete the questionnaire.

Variable
The independent variable was parent role. The dependent variable in this study was the independence of mental retardation children.

Instrument
The type of instrument used for the independent variable (the role of parents) used the Hutasoit & Sartika (2018) questionnaire sheet from previous study which contains 10 questions based on indicators of educators, drivers (motivation), facilitators and mentors (Hutasoit, M., & Sartika, 2018). As for the dependent variable instrument (independence of mentally retarded children) using the Komala (2015) questionnaire sheet from previous study which contains 10 questions based on indicators of emotional independence, behavioral independence and value independence (Komala, 2015). The questionnaires were tested for validity and reliability. The results of the validity test conducted on 10 parents who cared for children with autism at SLB Putra Jaya Malang, proved that the questionnaire used for the role of parent variable (X) was 10 questions and the independence variable for mentally retarded children (Y) as many as 10 questions was declared valid, because the probability of the correlation result is less than 0.05 (0.050) and r count > r table (0.632). The results of the reliability test conducted on 10 parents who cared for children with autism at SLB Putra Jaya Malang, proved that the questionnaire used for the role of parent variable (X) was 10 questions and the independence variable for mentally retarded children (Y) was 10 questions declared reliable, because the Alpha value of the role of parents variable (X) is 0.712 and the Alpha value of the mentally retarded child's independence variable (Y) is 0.746 more than 0.6 (0.600)

Procedure
Researcher requested a recommendation letter from Faculty of Health Science Tribhuwana Tungga Dewi University to apply for research permits. After the permit was issued, then it was given to Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. After the study was approved by the Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba, the researchers visited the parents of mentally retarded children directly at home using health protocol for COVID-19. The researcher explains the aims and objectives of the study and asks the parents' willingness to be research respondents. If they are willing, the Informed Concent sheet and questionnaires are given to respondents to fill out. After the questionnaire has been completed by the respondent the researcher checks the respondent's answers, if there are questions that have not been filled out, the questionnaire is returned to be completed. Then researcher collect and processing data.

Analysis
Data analyzed in this study is the Fisher's Exact test which used SPSS for window version 18, because it is not eligible to analyzed by Chi Square test. Researchers visited the parents of mentally retarded children directly at home using health protocol for COVID-19 accompany by local civil servants. Researcher also paid attention to the research ethic, including informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality, fidelity, and autonomy.

Ethical Clearance
Researcher had approval by the Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba, with number 59/SLB-WKB/2021. Table 1 shows the characteristics of the respondents in this study include the age of the parents, the gender of the parents, the occupations of the parents, the education of the parents, the age of the child and the sex of the child, the data are presented as follows.

RESULTS
Based on Table 1 shows that most (60.0%) of respondents are between 36-40 years old (adult), almost all (85.0%) of respondents are female, most (62.5%) of respondents work as farmers, most (60.0%) of respondents had junior high school education, most (67.5%) children aged 6-12 years (school age) and most (67.5%) children were male.
Based on Table 2, it shows that most of the 21 (52.5%) respondents gave a role to mentally retarded children during the pandemic period in the less category in Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. Twenty two respondents 55.0%) experienced independence in the category of moderate dependence on mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba.
The data analysis of this study used cross tabulation and Fisher's Exact test to determine the relationship between the role of parents and the independence of mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba as follows.
Based on table 3, it is known that from (52.5%) parents who gave the role of the less category caused as many as (47.5%) mentally retarded children to experience independence in the category of moderate to severe dependence. The results of the Fisher's Exact test obtained p-value = (0.000) < (0.05) so that H1 is accepted, meaning that there is a relationship between the role of parents and the independence of mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba.

Role of Parent to Children with Mental Retarded in Pandemic
Based on Table 2, it shows that most of the respondents gave a role to mentally retarded children during the pandemic period in the less category at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. Parents roles with mental retardation children in category of less known indicators, they are not teaching their children to be independent in daily activities every day and lack of patience to increase their children independence. Factors that influence the role of parents are less for mentally retarded children during the pandemic, namely age, occupation and education. The age range of most parents between 36-40 years (late adulthood) or mature age has busy work, so that the role parents with mental retardation is lacking, especially in terms of teaching and training children'sdaily activities. day. An increasing age, a person's grasping power and mindset will also develop, so that the knowledge gained is getting better, but parents who are busy at work will reduce their role in guiding mentally retarded children. The work factor is found that almost half of the parents have jobs as farmers so they are busy with work and have less time to take care of their children (Gunarsa, 2015). According to Wahyuningsih (2007) explaining that parents who are busy working can also cause a lack of giving roles to mentally retarded children, causing children to feel unnoticed. The education factor is found that almost half of the parents have junior high school education, where education that is not too high will hinder one's knowledge in caring for mentally retarded children. With the higher a person's education, the easier it is to accept new things that can be applied in raising their children. The results of this study prove that the age, occupation and education of parents have an effect on giving roles to mentally retarded children during the pandemic (Wahyuningsih, 2007). These results are supported by the research of Pujiani and Muniroh (2017) explaining that the age of parents determines the experience, the work of the parents determines the closeness of the parents to the child and the education of the parents determines the knowledge of the parents in caring for mentally retarded children which aims to increase their independence.
Parents role withless category to mental retardation children cause children to feel unloved, do not want to learn and are afraid to socialize with the environment so that it will inhibit the independence in carrying out daily activities. Social distancing measures and rising unemployment levels during pandemic may lead to increased child abuse and neglect (S S Teo & Griffiths, 2020). Parents' mental health condition got worse were more likely to expose to any form of domestic violence in pandemic (Zhou et al., 2021). Dewi's research (2017) proves that the role of parents is a form of affection, concern and sympathy given to mental retardationchildren. The role of parents as a stimulus can increase the independence of mental retardation children gradually according to growth and development (Rumaseb et al., 2018). According to Hutasoit & Sartika (2018), explaining the role of parents who are less cause children feel lack of feelings of love, lack of supervision, lack of giving examples and not teaching them to do daily activities, this will hinder the independence of mental retardation children.

Mental Retardation Children's Independence During the Pandemic
Based on Table 3 shows that most of the respondents experienced independence in the category of moderate dependence on mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. The results showed that mentally retarded children experienced independence in the category of severe dependence such as not being independent in carrying out daily activities including bathing, brushing teeth, taking food and drinking with the help of parents. Mariani (2016) explains the impact of children who are heavily dependent, namely not being able to independently carry out daily activities so that they are dependent on parents or caregivers, this is dangerous if the dependence is heavy until adulthood. Muniroh (2017) explains that the importance of the independence of mentally retarded children as a very influential basic stage and becomes the basis for further development that determines the success of children to recover. Dewi (2017) explains that independence is related to the ability of mentally retarded children to carry out physical activities, the ability to socialize with the environment and the ability to hold anger. Independence of mental retardation children who are moderately dependent, such as children who cannot control their emotions, children are easily angry and cry when their desires are not fulfilled, children hit when angry and children are less able to learn on their own without the help of others. The independence of the mentally retarded child who is moderately dependent causes the child to like to be alone, cries easily, cannot play with his friends, is afraid of others, embarrassed and easily angry. Independence of mentally retarded children is a process carried out by children so that they can carry out daily activities without the help of others. Hutasoit & Sartika (2018) explains that mentally retarded children who experience moderate dependence independence due to lack of stimulus include the role of parents. Children who have moderate dependence cause their growth and development to be not optimal and need to be improved by providing stimulation in the form of continuous training every day.
Factors that affect children with mental retardation experiencing independence in the category of moderate dependence are age and gender. The age factor is known to be more dominant in children aged between 6-12 years (big children) so that they do not have perfect physical, social and cognitive development, this is because children's growth and development will continue to increase according to age growth. Age determines the growth of mentally retarded children, where the older the child, the development and independence of the child will increase (Hurlock, 2013). It is known that the sex factor is that children are more dominant in the male sex so that they experience late development. Boys experience developmental delays because they are spoiled and dependent on their parents (Wong, 2009). The results of the study prove that age and gender affect the independence of mentally retarded children. This result is supported by research by Rumaseb, Mulyani & Nasrah (2018) which explains that the independence of mentally retarded children is supported by the development of the child's age and sex, where the older a person gets, the more independent they are in carrying out their daily activities.

The Relationship between The Role of Parents And The Independence of Mentally Retarded Children
The results of the study prove that there is a relationship between the role of parents and the independence of mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. This means that parents who give the role of a less category cause mental retardation children to experience independence in the category of moderate or less dependence.
The results of the study prove that the lack of roles given by parents can inhibit the independence of mental retardation children to carry out daily activities. Muniroh (2017) explains that the role of parents as a stimulus can increase the development and independence of children gradually according to growth and development. Hutasoit & Sartika (2018) proves that there is a relationship between the role of parents and the independence of mental retardation children by educators, drivers (motivation), facilitators and mentor indicators. The role of parents is less causing the child's independence to be moderately dependent, where if parents do not provide a role by training mental retardation children to do activities every day will cause Children tend to be dependent on their parents.
The results of this study prove that the role of parents is very important to improve the independence of mental retardation children. The role of parents given to mentally retarded children is to improve the development and independence of mentally retarded children such as feelings of love, supervision, giving examples and teaching them to do physical activities independently (Primasiwi, 2020). Research conducted by Astuti (2018) proves that the description of the role given by parents to mentally retarded children is in the low category, this causes the mentally retarded child's independence in carrying out daily activities (Astuti, 2018). Supported by research by Rumaseb, Mulyani & Nasrah (2018), it proves that there is a relationship between stimulus given by parents through roles and attention with increasing the independence of mentally retarded children in carrying out activities.

CONCLUSSION
This research, concluded that the role of parents is mostly in the less category of mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. The independence of children with mental retardation is mostly in the category of moderate dependence during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba. There is a relationship between the role of parents and the independence of mentally retarded children during the pandemic at Waibakul inclusive school, District of Central Sumba.