Clarifying core characteristics of attachment disorders: A review of current research and theory

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Volumn 76, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 55-64

  Zilberstein, Karen ^a  

^a Children's Clinic   (United States)

Author keywords

Attachment disorders; Developmental psychopathology; Diagnosis; Maltreatment

Indexed keywords

ABUSE; AGGRESSION; COMORBIDITY; DIAGNOSTIC AND STATISTICAL MANUAL OF MENTAL DISORDERS; EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT; EMOTIONAL DISORDER; EMOTIONALITY; HUMAN; INJURY; MEDICAL RESEARCH; MENTAL DISEASE; ORPHANAGE; REVIEW; RISK FACTOR; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE; SYMPTOMATOLOGY;

CHILD; CHILD ABUSE; DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; FOSTER HOME CARE; HUMANS; MENTAL DISORDERS; OBJECT ATTACHMENT; PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY;

EID: 33745169646     PISSN: 00029432     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/0002-9432.76.1.55     Document Type: Review

References (62)

1. Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
2. American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
4. Attachment Disorder Site. (n.d.). Symptoms, causes and research. Retrieved June 24, 2004, from www.attachmentdisorder.net/ Symptoms_Causes_Research.htm
5. Benedict, H., & Mongoven, L. (1997). Thematic play therapy: An approach to treatment of attachment disorders in young children. In H. Kaduson, D. Cangelosi, & C. Schaefer (Eds.), The playing cure: Individualized play therapy for specific childhood problems (pp. 277-315). Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
6. Boris, N. (2003). Attachment, aggression and holding: A cautionary tale. Attachment & Human Development, 5, 245-247.
7. Boris, N., Hinshaw-Fuselier, S., Smyke, A., Scheeringa, M., Heller, S., & Zeanah, C. (2004). Comparing criteria for attachment disorders: Establishing reliability and validity in high-risk samples. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 43, 568-577.
8. Boris, N., & Zeanah, C. (1999). Disturbances and disorders of attachment in infancy: An overview. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20(1), 1-9.
9. Boris, N., Zeanah, C., Larrieu, J. Scheeringa, M., & Heller, S. (1998). Attachment disorders in infancy and early childhood: A preliminary investigation of diagnostic criteria. American Journal of Psychiatry, 155, 295-297.
10. Bowlby, J. (1979). The making and breaking of affectional bonds. London: Tavistock.
11. Bryne, J. (2003). Referral biases and diagnostic dilemmas. Attachment & Human Development, 5, 249-252.
12. Carlson, E. (1998). A prospective longitudinal study of attachment disorganization/disorientation. Child Development, 69, 1107-1128.
13. Chisholm, K. (1998). A three-year follow-up of attachment and indiscriminate friendliness in children adopted from Romanian orphanages. Child Development, 69, 1092-1106.
14. Chisholm, K., Carter, M., Ames, E., & Morison, S. (1995). Attachment security and indiscriminately friendly behavior in children adopted from Romanian orphanages. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 283-294.
15. Dozier, M. (2003). Attachment-based treatment for vulnerable children. Attachment & Human Development, 5, 253-257.
16. Evergreen Consultants in Human Behavior. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2004, from http://attachmenttherapy.com/ad.html
17. Green, J., & Goldwyn, R. (2002). Annotation: Attachment disorganization and psychopathology: New findings in attachment research and their potential implications for developmental psychopathology in childhood, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 43, 835-846.
18. Greenberg, M., & Speltz, M. (1988). Attachment and the ontogeny of conduct problems. In J. Belsky & T. Nezworski (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 177-252). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
19. Greenspan, S., & Lieberman, A. (1988). A clinical approach to attachment. In J. Belsky & T. Nezworski (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 387-424). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
20. Hall, S., & Geher, G. (2003). Behavioral and personality characteristics of children with reactive attachment disorder. Journal of Psychology, 137, 145-163.
21. Hanson, R., & Spratt, E. (2000). Reactive attachment disorder: What we know about the disorder and implications for treatment. Child Maltreatment, 5, 137-145.
22. Hinshaw-Fuselier, S., Boris, N., & Zeanah, C. (1999). Reactive attachment disorder in maltreated twins. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20(1), 42-59.
23. Hinshaw-Fuselier, S., Heller, S., Parton, V., Robinson, L., & Boris, N. (2004). Trauma and attachment. In J. Osofsky (Ed.), Young children and trauma: Intervention and treatment (pp. 47-68). New York: Guilford Press.
24. Hopkins, J. (2000). Overcoming a child's resistance to late adoption: How one new attachment can facilitate another. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 26, 335-347.
25. Howe, D. (2003). Attachment disorders: Disinhibited attachment behaviors and secure base distortions with special reference to adopted children. Attachment & Human Development, 5, 265-270.
26. Hughes, D. (1997). Facilitating developmental attachment: The road to emotional recovery and behavioral change in foster and adopted children. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
27. Hughes, D. (1998). Building the bonds of attachment: Awakening love in deeply troubled children. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
28. James, B. (1994). Handbook for treatment of attachment-trauma problems in children. New York: Lexington Books.
29. Kagan, J. (1989). Unstable ideas: Temperament, cognition, and self. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
30. Levy, T., & Orlans, M. (2000). Attachment disorder as an antecedent to violence and antisocial patterns in children. In T. Levy (Ed.), Handbook of attachment interventions (pp. 1-26). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
31. Lieberman, A., & Pawl, J. (1990). Disorders of attachment and secure base behavior in the second year of life. In M. Greenberg, D. Ciccchetti, & E. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years (pp. 375-397). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
32. Lieberman, A., & Zeanah, C. (1995). Disorders of attachment in infancy. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinics of North America, 4, 571-587.
33. Main, M., & Solomon, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the strange situation. In M. T. Greenberg, D. Cicchetti, & E. M. Cummings (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research and intervention (pp. 121-160). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
34. Milan, S., & Pinderhughes, E. (2000). Factors influencing maltreated children's early adjustment in foster care. Development and Psychopathology, 12(1), 63-81.
35. Minde, K. (1999). Mediating attachment patterns during a serious medical illness. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20(1), 105-122.
36. Minde, K. (2003). Assessment and treatment of attachment disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 16, 377-381.
37. Myeroff, R., Mertlich, G., & Gross, J. (1999). Comparative effectiveness of holding therapy with aggressive children. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 29, 303-313.
38. O'Connor, T., Bredenkamp, D., Rutter, M., & the English and Romanian Adoptees Study Team. (1999). Attachment disturbances and disorders in children exposed to early severe deprivation. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20(1), 10-29.
39. O'Connor, T., Marvin, R., Rutter, M., Olrick, J., Britner, P., & The English and Romanian Adoptees Study Team. (2003). Child-parent attachment following early institutional deprivation. Development & Psychopathology, 15, 19-38.
40. O'Connor, T., Rutter, M., & the English and Romanian AdopteesStudy Team. (2000). Attachment disorder behavior following early severe deprivation: Extension and longitudinal follow-up. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 703-712.
41. O'Connor, T., & Zeanah, C. (2003). Attachment disorders: Assessment strategies and treatment approaches. Attachment & Human Development, 5, 223-244.
42. RadKid.org. (n.d.) Signs & symptoms of reactive attachment disorder in children & adults. Retrieved June 24, 2004, from www.radkid.org/ signs_and_symptoms.html
43. Reber, K. (1996). Children at risk for reactive attachment disorder: Assessment, diagnosis and treatment. Progress: Family System Research and Therapy, 5, 83-98.
44. Rutter, M. (1997). Clinical implications of attachment concepts: Retrospect and prospect. In L. Atkinson & K. Zucker (Eds.), Attachment and psychopathology (pp. 17-46). New York: Guilford Press.
45. Rutter, M., Kreppner, J., & O'Connor, T. (2001). Specificity and heterogeneity in children's responses to profound institutional privation. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179(2), 97-103.
46. Sheperis, C., Renfro-Michel, E., & Doggett, R. (2003). In-home treatment of reactive attachment disorder in a therapeutic foster care system: A case example. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 25(1), 76-88.
47. Shields, A., & Cicchetti, D. (1998). Reactive aggression among maltreated children: The contributions of attention and emotional dysregulation. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 27, 381-395.
48. Shin, Y., Lee, K. Min, S., & Emde, R. (1999). A Korean syndrome of attachment disturbance mimicking symptoms of pervasive developmental disorder. Infant Mental Health Journal, 20(1), 60-76.
49. Smyke, A., Dumitrescu, A., & Zeanah, C. (2002). Attachment disturbances in young children: I. The continuum of caretaking casualty. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 972-982.
50. Solomon, J., & George, C. (Eds.). (1999). Attachment disorganization. New York: Guilford Press.
51. Speltz, M. (2002). Description, history and critique of corrective attachment therapy. APSAC Advisor, 14(3), 4-8.
52. Sroufe, L. (1997). Psychopathology as an outcome of development. Development & Psychopathology, 9, 251-268.
53. Sroufe, L., Carlson, E., Levy, A., & Egeland, B. (1999). Implications of attachment theory for developmental psychopathology. Development & Psychopathology, 11 (1), 1-13.
54. Thomas, N. (1997). When love is not enough: A guide to parenting children with RAD. Glenwood Springs, CO: Author.
55. Van IJzendoorn, M., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. (2003). Attachment disorders and disorganized attachment: Similar and different. Attachment & Human Development, 5, 313-320.
56. Volkmar, F. (2002). Changing perspectives on mood disorders n children. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 893-894.
57. Widiger , T., & Clark, L. (2000). Toward DSM-V and the classification of psychopathology. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 946-963.
58. Wilson, S. (2001). Attachment disorders: Review and current status. Journal of Psychology, 135(1), 37-51.
59. Zeanah, C. (1996). Beyond insecurity: A reconceptualization of attachment disorders of infancy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 42-52.
60. Zeanah, C. (2000). Disturbances of attachment in young children adopted from institutions. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 21, 230-236.
61. Zeanah, C., & Boris, N. (2000). Disturbances and disorders of attachment in early childhood. In C. Zeanah (Ed.), Handbook of infant mental health (2nd ed., pp. 353-368). New York: Guilford Press.
62. Zeanah, C., Smyke, A., & Dumitrescu, A. (2002). Attachment disturbances in young children: II. Indiscriminate behavior and institutional care. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 983-989.