Parental multiple sclerosis: child-parent and child –peer attachment

ABSTRACT The relationship between Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the parent and the psychological adjustment of the child has been a source of interest and concern in the literature, and in the current study the aim was to investigate the quality of attachment in the child’s relationship with parents as well as with peers. Studies have investigated a variety of dimensions such as developmental outcomes, behavioral problems and psychiatric symptomatology with interesting but conflicting results. The present study focused on children’s relationships with their parents and with peers in families where one parent had MS, compared to children with two healthy parents. This is a correlational and predictive quantitative study. The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), which investigates parent-child and child-peer relationships, was the instrument of the study. The results of the study show that children from a family with a parent with MS report secure attachment with their parents but insecure attachment with their peers. Children from a family with healthy parents report secure attachment with their parents and with their peers. This study indicates that children from families with a parent with MS differ significantly from children with two healthy parents to their attachment with their peers, in all the three dimensions: trust, communication and feelings of alienation, as well as in the global score of attachment. The findings have significant implications both empirically and clinically for families where one parent has MS. Clinical interventions must pay significant attention to these relationships and how problems with peers might be related to other psychological difficulties of children with an MS ill parent.