Child Welfare 2009 ;88(2):137-61

Center for Family Development, Williamsville, New York 14221, USA.

Children with histories of chronic early maltreatment within a caregiving relationship may develop complex trauma or developmental trauma and suffer from a variety of deficits in many domains. This study explored the effects of complex trauma on the development of 57 children, as measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II. This is the first descriptive study to report on the significant discrepancies between chronological and developmental ages in adopted and foster children. This study found that adopted and foster children with a psychiatric diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder show developmental delay in the domains of communication, daily living skills, and socialization. The average adaptive behavior composite score for the children in this study yielded a developmental age (age equivalency) of 4.4 years, while the average chronological age was 9.9 years.

J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2009 Aug 1;50(8):931-42. Epub 2009 Apr 1.

Section of Psychological Medicine, University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Objective: To explore attachment narratives in children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder (RAD).

Method: We compared attachment narratives, as measured by the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task, in a group of 33 children with a diagnosis of RAD and 37 comparison children.

Results: The relative risk (RR) for children with RAD having an insecure attachment pattern was 2. Read More

J Pediatr Health Care 2000 May-Jun;14(3):109-16

University of South Alabama College of Nursing, Community Mental Health Nursing, Springhill Area Campus, Mobile, AL 36604, USA.

Introduction: The former Soviet Union (including the present independent republics of Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Lithuania, and Georgia) is the leading source of children adopted from overseas by persons in the United States (US Department of State, 1998). This study sought to (a) characterize the current social, academic, and conduct competencies of 6- to 9-year-old children adopted from the former Soviet Union who have resided in the United States for at least 2 years and (b) evaluate both risks and protective influences of adoptive families and their relationships to competence via a structural equation model.

Method: Telephone interviews and a postal survey of children were drawn from a US community sample of 105 children. Read More

Dev Psychopathol 2004 ;16(2):253-71

New York University School of Medicine, USA.

This study investigated the development of attachment relationships in 38 foster infant-caregiver dyads over the first 2 months of placement. We used the Parent Attachment Diary to measure foster infants' daily attachment behaviors, the Adult Attachment Interview to examine foster parents' attachment states of mind, and Ainsworth's Strange Situation to capture attachment classifications. We examined differences in diary scales (secure, avoidant, resistant, and coherence) as they related to age at placement and foster parent attachment, using hierarchical linear modeling and analyses of variance. Read More

Attach Hum Dev 2006 Mar;8(1):63-86

Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA.

The best means for the diagnosis and treatment of reactive attachment disorder of infancy and early childhood have not been established. Though some longitudinal data on institutionalized children is available, reports of maltreated young children who are followed over time and assessed with measures of attachment are lacking. This paper presents the clinical course of a set of maltreated fraternal twins who were assessed and treated from 19 months to 30 months of age and then seen in follow-up at 3 and 8 years of age. Read More