# Attachment and reflective functioning in families with a child on the autism spectrum

## TL;DR

This study explores how parents' attachment and ability to understand their child's mental states relate to child attachment in families with an autistic child.

## Contribution

It is one of the first cross-sectional studies examining these associations in families with children on the autism spectrum.

## Key findings

- Parents with organized attachment showed higher Interest and Curiosity in their child's mental states than unresolved parents.
- Mothers scored significantly higher in Interest and Curiosity than fathers.
- No significant differences were found in child attachment ratings between autistic and typically developing siblings.

## Abstract

The concepts of attachment and reflective functioning are predictors of positive development in children on the autism spectrum. This is the one of the first cross-sectional studies to examine associations between parents’ attachment representations and parental reflective functioning and child attachment in families with children on the autism spectrum. Twenty-eight parents completed the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System and questionnaires of Maternal Perception of Child Attachment and Parental Reflective Functioning regarding their child on the autism spectrum and when applicable a typically developing sibling. To test any associations between the parents’ attachment and parental reflective functioning and parents’ perception of child attachment, the sample was divided in organized (secure, dismissing and preoccupied combined) as compared with unresolved parents. We found a higher level of the parents’ Interest and Curiosity in their child’s mental states (a parental reflective functioning domain) in the organized as compared with unresolved parents. Also, mothers had significantly higher levels of Interest and Curiosity than fathers. There were no other significant differences regarding the remaining questionnaire domains. Also, there were no significant differences between parents’ rating of child attachment or parental reflective functioning in relation to their child on the autism spectrum compared with their typically developing sibling. The findings suggest that future support may enhance focus on parents unresolved to loss and trauma and fathers. Also, more research is needed to understand the implications of attachment and reflective functioning in families affected by autism.