Attachment Quality of Young Children with Mentally Ill Parents on the Example of the Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome

Abstract

One of the most discussed questions in clinical literature concerns the impact of child abuse by mentally ill parents (cf. Mattejat, 1998). It's obvious that most children cannot understand such a parental behaviour and that this lack of understanding along with the lack of knowledge about their parents' emotional disorder results in childrens' fear, disorientation and uncertainty. The consequences are massive interferences in the relationship between parents and children, who could develop an anxious-resistant insecure or even a disorganized/disoriented attachment. But how does a child react, if the behaviour of its parents is ambivalent itself and alternates from abuse to care? Such a parental behaviour is described as the "Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome". This article regards the effects of a "Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome" on the childrens' attachment development. After discussing the basic assumptions about the "Munchhauen by Proxy Syndrome" and the attachment theory we draw conclusions about the syndrome's effect on childrens' attachment behaviour.