Attachment Disorder Case Study

Next on the continuum of attachment styles, the insecure-anxious-ambivalent child displays an extreme reaction of distress to their caregiver’s departure and a slight inclination to explore. (Connors, 2011) Upon the return of their parent or caregiver, this child is not comforted and physically resists contact. Noted by Ainsworth in her “Strange Situation”, this child’s “interactive behaviors are relatively lacking in active initiation” (Ainsworth et al., 1978), meaning the child, seeking validation, might respond to the return of their parent but this generally includes emotional outbursts instead of taking an active approach to their parent. The insecure-avoidant pattern of attachment displays an infant who lacks a secure base and fails to respond to both the departure and return of their primary caregiver. (Ainsworth et al., 1978), Further, the “Strange Situation” displayed this child as turning away or “squirming” when contact was reestablished between child and caregiver (Connors, 2011). Finally, the later addition of the attachment pattern insecure-disorganized explains children who demonstrate a mixture of attachment behaviors. This child often responds to their caregiver with opposing actions, such as approach-avoidance, and displays a degree of fear associated with that caregiver; it is theorized that there is a direct correlation between abused children and this particular

In the earliest stages of development, emotions are diffuse and infants have little control over their behavioral expression, relying instead on the dyadic regulation provided by their caregivers’ responses to behavioral signals. Attachment disorders form in infancy and early childhood as a result of instability in the child-caregiver relationship. Attachment-disordered children typically have experienced abusive or neglectful care, multiple changes between caregivers and environments, or the sudden loss of a parent or parents.

Reactive Attachment Disorder is a common infancy/early childhood disorder. Reactive attachment disorder is located under the trauma- and stressors-related disorder section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), Fifth Edition. It is normally diagnosed when an infant or child experience expresses a minimal attachment to a figure for nurturance, comfort, support, and protection. Although children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder have the ability to select their attachment figure, they fail to show behavioral manifestation because they had limited access during the early developmental stage. Some disturbed behaviors include diminished or absence of positive emotions toward caregiver. In addition,

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) was first introduced just over 20 years ago, with the publication of DSM-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980). In the DSM-IV. The disorder is defined by aberrant social behavior that appears in early childhood and is evident cross contextually(1994). The disorder describes aberrant social behaviors in young children that are believed to derive from being reared in caregiving environments lacking species-typical nurturance and stimulation, such as in instances such as maltreatment or institutional rearing. (First, M., & Tasman, A. 2010) . In cases of RAD two major types of abnormalities have been cited; these include an emotionally withdrawn/inhibited type and an indiscriminately social/disinhibited pattern (First, M., & Tasman, A. 2010).Conditions in in foreign orphanages and institutions such as, multiple caregivers, maltreatment, abuse, neglect, and others contribute to the inability for internationally adopted children to form secure attachments. All of these factors contribute to internationally adopted children being at a higher risk to develop attachment disorders such as RAD and other behavioral problems.

Attachment disorder children never bond properly to their abusive caretakers, resulting in an inability to bond with anyone else later in life (Crosson-Tower 58).

Attachment disorder is the result of a bonding process that occurs between a child and caregiver during the first couple years of the child’s life. From the view of Mary Ainsworth, Harry Harlow, John Bowlby and Rene Spitz attachment disorder does severe damage depending on the child and the abuse level. This attachment break severely damages the heart and mind. It stops the child’s ability to care, love or trust. When a child

Reactive attachment disorder is a disorder that impairs a child’s social skills before the age of five. (Shi, 2014) Children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder have a hard time getting close to others. They are ones who are neglected, abused or constantly changing caregivers. It is hard for these children to get close to others when all they know is negative things about personal relationships. If a child is raised not knowing how to trust or be close to anyone, they will have issues with relationships.

Attachment is described as an "affectionate reciprocal relationship between an individual and another individual." Much psychological research has been carried out into the types of attachments that infants form with their caregivers, and the results gained from these studies show how early attachments can affect children whether positively or negatively.

A child who has disruptive attachment will face many issues during their lifetime. The areas that will be affected relate to their behaviour, emotional and also the relationship they have during childhood and into adulthood. These impacts due to grief, loss, abuse, maltreatment, parental health issues, could be mental or physical health related. These issues can be ongoing, temporary and yet will affect issues of their primary carer will be ongoing and affect every part of the child’s life (Doyle, 2012).

Imagine one moment you’re outside playing football in the yard with your little brother, then in a split second something triggers him and fills him with an uncontrollable rage that will have you scared of someone in your own family. This is because my little brother Ty suffers from Reactive Attachment Disorder and like many other foster kids Ty was neglected by his birth parents and then did not establish an appropriate bond with a caregiver. To people unaware of Ty’s mental illness he may seem like a normal 16 year old that spends time with his family and enjoys working on his dirtbikes. What the people don’t see is the anger that fills him from when things don’t play out the way he wants them to. Ty’s triggers usually come from when something doesn’t go the way he wanted them to, in his mind things need to play out exactly how he wants them to and if they don’t then the result is not a pleasant sight.

In the Newman, Newman book two types of expressions are defined, emotional withdrawn/inhibited type and indiscriminately social/uninhibited type. These expressions were defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV. In the new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5 (DSM-5), reactive attachment disorder is found under the Trauma-and Stress-related disorders section. The two expressions are now categorized as distinct disorders, reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder. Both of these disorders are the result of social neglect or other situations that limit a young child’s opportunity to form selective attachments. Although sharing this etiological pathway, the two disorders differ in important ways. Because of dampened positive affect, reactive attachment disorder more closely resembles internalizing disorders; it is essentially equivalent to a lack of or incompletely formed preferred attachments to caregiving adults. In contrast, disinhibited social engagement disorder more closely resembles ADHD; it may occur in children who do not necessarily lack attachments and may have established or even secure attachments (American Psychiatric Association,

Abstract: Children entering into the foster care system more than likely have been neglected or abused. This paper will detail a common disorder associated with foster children. Attachment Disorder (AD) is not commonly discussed before placement, however it becomes obvious within the first two months of placement. A myriad of signs or symptoms can be related to AD and there is debatable literature and discussion regarding the validity of this disorder. This paper will also discuss the difference between AD and RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder). The goal of this paper is to inform potential foster families of behavioral difficulties and the assistance that is available.

Coohey, and Braun (1997) notes that there are three factors that increase the chances of child physical abuse, and they are exposure to aggression, exposure to stressors, and access to resources (p.1082). These three factors can contribute to the increase of child abuse within a family. For a Social Worker these areas are a great place to look at to determine child abuse. However, it is important to understand what the three terms mean. According to Coohey and Braun (1997) they stated that “exposure to aggression occurs when an individual views or is the object of another individual’s use of physical force” (p.1082).

on the clinical solutions that I could offer to Angie. Different methods are used in the assessment of the attachment disorders. Most clinicians have adopted the indices to determine the bonds between the various subjects (Milteer et al., 2012). The indices would help me identify the existence of oppositional behavior, the intensity of the conflict, and the duration of the disturbance Angie has gone through. Additionally, they would help me generalize the dysfunction, identify negative attitudes in responding to requests, passivity while interacting with her friends, ineffectiveness as well as the lack of patience while handling problems, and overly compliant trends.

Lastly, avoidant attached infants are untroubled when the caregiver leaves and returns. The infant wants to keep closeness to the caregiver but this attachment style lets the infant maintain closeness to the caregiver even in the face of rejection. In order to control their feelings of distress and to prevent more rejection, the infant may just give up on seeking closeness to the caregiver (Walsh, 2015).