Living with Disability in the Family: Care Demands, Adaptation, and Inequality Across Developmental Disability Contexts.

Families are key sites where disability is lived and organized in everyday life, yet the social and care-related demands placed on families vary across disability contexts. This study examines how different developmental disabilities shape family functioning, adaptive processes, and inequalities in everyday care. Drawing on questionnaire data from one parent per family in 937 Spanish families of children with intellectual disability (ID), motor disability, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the study compares three measurement models of family functioning: the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES-20Esp), the Family Management Measure (FaMM), and the Family Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration (APGAR) scale. The analysis examines the reliability and interrelationships of these instruments, as well as how emotional cohesion, adaptability, and the everyday management of disability vary across disability groups. The findings indicate that families of children with ASD experience greater care-related difficulty and lower adaptability, whereas families of children with ID show higher adaptive flexibility. Across disability contexts, emotional cohesion and parental mutuality remained relatively stable, showing no significant differences by disability type. These results highlight how disability produces uneven family experiences and care burdens, with implications for family-centered support and social policy.