Attachment Theory and Adjustment Difficulties in Siblings of Children With Cancer

The demands of the childhood cancer experience on children and their parents has been investigated for a number of years. Despite this research, very little emphasis has been placed on well siblings. In the health care profession today, there is a growing perception that the psychosocial needs of the healthy siblings of children with cancer are less sufficiently met than those of other members of the family system. Previous research proposes that well siblings are especially susceptible to a number of adjustment difficulties (such as depression, anger, anxiety, feelings of guilt, and social isolation) (Murray, 1999). Given these findings, the question arises as to whether the adjustment difficulties seen in siblings are a result of the loss of, or separation from, the attachment figure--the mother who is busy caring for the child with cancer. The purpose of this article is to use attachment theory as a conceptual framework to try to understand the effects of the childhood cancer experience on siblings. Recent findings regarding siblings of children with cancer and some speculations regarding clinical implications are provided.