--- abstract: 'Since its introduction into DSM-Ill, reactive attachment disorder has stood curiously apart from other diagnoses for two reasons: it remains the only diagnosis designed for infants, and it requires the presence of a specific etiology. This paper describes the pattern of disturbances demonstrated by some children who meet DSM-Ill-R criteria for reactive attachment disorder. Three suggestions are made: (1) the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic concept may be enhanced by including criteria detailing the developmental problems exhibited by these children; (2) the etiological requirement should be discarded given the difficulties inherent in obtaining complete histories for these children, as well as its inconsistency with ICD-10; and (3) the diagnosis arguably is not a disorder of attachment but rather a syndrome of atypical development. J.Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry,1994, 33, 3: 328-332. Key Words: reactive attachment disorder, maltreatment, DSM-Ill-R' altloc: [] chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Richters given: Margot Moser honourific: Dr. lineage: '' - family: Volkmar given: Fred R. honourific: Dr. lineage: '' date: 1994-03 date_type: published datestamp: 2004-09-03 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/38/00 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: [] eprint_status: archive eprintid: 3800 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/3800/1/Richters_%26_Volkmar.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: 'reactive attachment disorder, maltreatment, DSM-III-R' lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:41 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 3 pagerange: 328-332 pubdom: FALSE publication: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry publisher: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry refereed: TRUE referencetext: |- Aber JL, Allen JP (1987), Effects of maltreatment on young children's social emotional development: an attachment theory perspective. 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Geneva: World Health Organization Zeanah CH, Emde RN (in press), Attachment disorders in infancy and childhood. In: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3rd ed., Rutter M, Hersov L, Taylor E, eds. London: Blackwell Zeanah CH. Mammen OK, Lieberman AF (1993), Disorders of attachment. In: Handbook of Infant Mental Health, Zeanah CH, ed. New York: Guilford Press, pp 332-349 relation_type: [] relation_uri: [] reportno: ~ rev_number: 12 series: ~ source: ~ status_changed: 2007-09-12 16:53:39 subjects: - dev-psy - clin-psy succeeds: ~ suggestions: ~ sword_depositor: ~ sword_slug: ~ thesistype: ~ title: Reactive Attachment Disorder of Infancy or Early Childhood type: journalp userid: 5055 volume: 33