Sources of variation in clinicians' communication to parents about mental retardation

Sources of variation in clinicians' diagnostic communication to parents of mentally retarded children were identified and examined. Results demonstrated that the nature of clinicians' communication is related to the severity of the child's diagnosis, clinicians' perception of the parents' level of emotional adjustment, whether the clinicians' experienced difficulties in communicating the diagnosis, and their length of clinical experience in the field of developmental disabilities. The dynamics of these relationships were discussed, as were the implications of the findings for future research and for needed changes in the current priority structure of medical education.