AbstractThe primary purpose of this study was to examine how mothers with or without mental handicap ascribed to those symptoms of psychopathology included in the self‐report version of the Psychopathology Instrument for Mentally Retarded Adults (PIMRA). A secondary purpose was to examine the psychometric properties of the PIMRA. Mothers with mental handicap scored significantly higher than did the contrast mothers on alla prioripre‐constructed subscales except on psychosexual disorders where they scored lower. These subscale differences were largely as a result of differences on a few items within each scale. Scores for mothers with mental handicap on the Adjustment and Anxiety subscales were related to whether they had been abused or neglected as children while Adjustment scores were related to a report of abusing their own child. Results with some similarity to those previously reported were found regarding the psychometric properties of the PIMRA. Suggestions are made regarding the need for examination of the purpose and construction of the PIMRA as well as for the further study of the expression of symptoms of psychopathology in persons with mental handi