Système familial et attachement : revue de la question

International audienceThe parent–child attachment is an emotional bond between the child and his mother, or his father, who allows it to use her, or him, as a safety haven, when in distress, and then as a security base from which it can explore again when the danger has disappeared. Initially focused on the mother–child dyad, attachment theory then spread to the one established by the father and his child, then a set of figures closed to the child (brothers, sisters, grandparents, peers, and so on.). Today, more than 30 years after its initial empirical validation, the parent–child attachment is still interviewing scientists. Meanwhile, another theory involves research in psychology, the family system. Consisting of interacting elements, the family functions as a system and is also the first milieu in which steeps the child. The junction between the two theories is widely desired, and many are the authors who seek to understand the influence of intra-family relations on the quality of parent–child attachment. These relationshipsinclude marital relations, co-parenting, parent–child and sibling relationships.We propose here to take stock of all the researches that have studied the impact of each of them on the quality of parent–child attachment. This work is part of an eco-systemic perspective and is an important step toward a systemic approach, taking into account the dynamics of all family relationships.L'attachement parent–enfant constitue un lien affectif entre l'enfant et sa mère ou son père, qui lui permet d'utiliser celle-ci, ou celui-ci, comme un port de sécurité lorsqu'il est en situation de détresse, puis comme une base de sécurité à partir de laquelle il peut à nouveau explorer lorsque le danger a disparu. D'abord focalisée sur la dyade mère–enfant, la théorie de l'attachement s'est ensuite étendue à celle constituée par le père et son enfant, puis à un ensemble de figures proches de l'enfant (frères, soeurs, grands-parents, pairs, etc.). Aujourd'hui, plus de 30 ans après sa validation empirique initiale, l'attachement parent–enfant interroge encore la communauté scientifique. Parallèlement, la théorie du système familial nous enseigne que, constituée d'éléments en interaction, la famille, premier milieu dans lequel baigne l'enfant, fonctionne comme un système. Ainsi la jonction entre ces deux modèles théoriques est-elle largement souhaitée et nombreux sont les auteurs qui la sollicitent afin de comprendre l'influence des relations intrafamiliales sur la qualité de l'attachement parent–enfant. Ces relations incluent les relations conjugales, coparentales, parent–enfant et les relations fraternelles. Nous nous proposons ici de faire le point sur l'ensemble des recherches qui ont étudié l'impact de chacune d'elles sur la qualité de l'attachement parent–enfant. Ce travail s'inscrit dans une perspective écosystémique et constitue une étape importante vers une approche systémique de l'attachement, prenant en compte la dynamique de l'ensemble des relations familiales. Abstract The parent–child attachment is an emotional bond between the child and his mother, or his father, who allows it to use her, or him, as a safety haven, when in distress, and then as a security base from which it can explore again when the danger has disappeared. Initially focused on the mother–child dyad, attachment theory then spread to the one established by the father and his child, then a set of figures closed to the child (brothers, sisters, grandparents, peers, and so on.). Today, more than 30 years after its initial empirical validation, the parent–child attachment is still interviewing scientists. Meanwhile, another theory involves research in psychology, the family system. Consisting of interacting elements, the family functions as a system and is also the first milieu in which steeps the child. The junction between the two theories is widely desired, and many are the authors who seek to understand the influence of intra-family relations on the quality of parent–child attachment. These relationships include marital relations, co-parenting, parent–child and sibling relationships. We propose here to take stock of all the researches that have studied the impact of each of them on the quality of parent–child attachment. This work is part of an eco-systemic perspective and is an important step toward a systemic approach, taking into account the dynamics of all family relationships