Parental stress in Indian families of children with intellectual disability: Roles of sociodemographic factors, child’s adaptive functioning, and family coping

Background: Parental stress among caregivers of children with intellectual disability (ID) in India remains understudied despite high prevalence (~2%) and limited service infrastructure. Aim: To examine levels of stress and coping and identify independent predictors across sociodemographic, child functional, and family resource domains using hierarchical regression. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 100 primary caregivers (62% mothers) of children with ID (mean age 10.99 years, mean Vineland SQ 48.81) at a tertiary hospital. Parental stress and family coping were assessed using the culturally validated FISC-ID; child adaptive functioning was assessed via the Vineland Social Maturity Scale (Indian adaptation). Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test predictors in three theory-driven blocks per transactional stress model. Results: Moderate total parental stress (M = 17.47, SD = 7.66) prevailed, driven by daily care (M = 7.32) and emotional stress (M = 5.52). Bivariate analyses showed large effects for maternal stress (d = -0.86), unemployment (d = 0.84), and child adaptive functioning (r = -.58, P <.001). Hierarchical regression explained 63% of the variance: Step 1, sociodemographics accounted for 32%; Step 2, child adaptive functioning added 17% (β = -0.39, the strongest predictor); Step 3, coping resources added 14% (social support β =0.27, awareness β =0.28, protective). Conclusion: Child adaptive deficits drive primary caregiving burden in Indian ID families; sociodemographic effects attenuate after controlling for function, while family resources offer independent protection. Interventions must target functional rehabilitation alongside social support expansion to mitigate chronic stress in resource-constrained settings.