A DISABLED-CHILD - A FAMILY DEVELOPMENTAL TASK - TESTING A 3-DIMENSIONAL JUSTICE MODEL OF FAMILIAL BURDENS

In a questionnaire study the evaluation of caregiving duties towards a disabled child was described with a 3-dimensional justice model of fa milial burdens which differentiated between perceived burdening, evalu ation of (in-)equality and the demand for compensating justice. Subjec ts (N = 119) were 25 fathers and 25 mothers participating together ('' couples'') and 69 mothers participating alone. The more time each pare nt invested for caregiving the more he or she was convinced to care mo re for the disabled child than the other parent. Mother claimed for fu ture compensation by the fathers; fathers more strongly wished to keep up the habits. Additionally, this wish for relief was stronger the gr eater the deviation from equality was and the stronger the just-world- belief was. Dyadic trust served as buffer against equality and justice concerns. Significant differences were observed between mothers parti cipating alone and couples participating together. Method implications as wells as consequences for family developmental psychology are disc ussed.