Lifelong caregiving for an adult with mental retardation can be conceptualized as a family stressor and analyzed within the framework of the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation. Parents of 116 adult children with mental retardation were measured on the dimensions of family sense of coherence, social support, family adaptability, family cohesion, and family adaptation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of these key family variables to family adjustment in families with an adult son or daughter with mental retardation. Results indicated that family sense of coherence, social support, and family adaptability made a significant contribution to family adaptation. Family cohesion did not make a meaningful contribution to family adaptation. Suggestions are made for increasing the family levels of these important family resources.
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