Marital Adjustment: Comparison between Couples with Children with and without Intellectual Disability

This study aims to compare the dyadic adjustment between couples with a child with intellectual disabilities and couples with children with typical development identifying the associations of this variable with characteristics of the functioning of the family system. The study included 101 families, 80 of them with children with typical development and 21 of them with one of the children with intellectual disabilities. The instruments used were Family Characteristics Questionnaire and Dyadic Adjustment Scale - DAS. The results show that the marital relationship, in both groups, is good and there are no significant differences regarding the dyadic adjustment between couples. The analysis of the dimensions of the DAS shows significant correlation, positive and moderate, but only in relation to the variable Affect Expression. The data indicate that the child's disability is not a hindrance to the couple dyadic adjustment, a fact that should be further investigated in Brazilian families.