In order to obtain a correlation between the ionic charge and the local environment, the evolution of valence charges of cations in different 2-3 spinel compounds was investigated as a function of the temperature. The evolution of the structural parameters in normal (MgAl(2)O(4)), mixed (MgGa(2)O(4)) and inverse (MgIn(2)O(4)) spinels as a function of the temperature was extracted from X-ray diffraction patterns collected during different thermal annealings. The evolution of these structural parameters as a function of the disorder is analyzed within the bond valence shell model: large variations of the cation valence are observed in these three spinel compounds. From this analysis, a strong correlation between the change of the cation valence and the local disorder is pointed out. Including this dependence in the microscopic models may provide a better agreement between experimental observations and simulations. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.