Beyond Reactive Attachment Disorder: How Might Attachment Research Inform Child Psychiatry Practice?

Neil W Boris; Kimberly Renk

doi:10.1016/j.chc.2017.03.003

Beyond Reactive Attachment Disorder: How Might Attachment Research Inform Child Psychiatry Practice?

Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2017 Jul;26(3):455-476. doi: 10.1016/j.chc.2017.03.003.

Authors

Neil W Boris¹, Kimberly Renk²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy, Florida State University, 1339 East Lafayette Street, Tallahassee, FL 32301, USA. Electronic address: nboris212@gmail.com.
² Department of Psychology, University of Central Florida, 4111 Pictor Lane, Psychology Building (99), Room 353, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.

PMID: 28577603
DOI: 10.1016/j.chc.2017.03.003

Abstract

This article provides an updated review of attachment research with a focus on how comprehensive clinical assessment and intervention informs the care of young children. Child psychiatrists can serve as an important part of care coordination teams working with young children who have histories of early maltreatment and/or disruption in caregiving whether or not the children they are seeing meet criteria for an attachment disorder. Child psychiatrists should be familiar with both comprehensive assessment and the recent attachment-based interventions and appreciate how pharmacotherapy can be a useful adjunctive intervention when intensive therapy alone is ineffective.

Keywords: Attachment; Disinhibited social disengagement disorder; Reactive attachment disorder; Therapy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Child Behavior Disorders* / diagnosis
Child Behavior Disorders* / therapy
Child Development / physiology*
Child Psychiatry / methods*
Child, Preschool
Humans
Infant
Object Attachment*
Reactive Attachment Disorder* / diagnosis
Reactive Attachment Disorder* / therapy
Social Behavior Disorders* / diagnosis
Social Behavior Disorders* / therapy