Reactive Attachment Disorder: What Questions to Ask ?

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD): What Questions to Ask ?

DSM IV classifies RAD into inhibited and disinhibited subtypes. DSM V might have inclusion or exclusion of subtypes for RAD.
This following article published few weeks ago (Dec 19, 2012) is the first systematic study of this important syndrome in maltreated non-institutionalized adolescents.
Source: J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2012 Dec 19. [PubMed PMID: 23250477]

Check out this useful questionnaire for four RAD symptom factors:-


(A) Disinhibited indiscriminate items

• In a new situation, does s/he tend to single out the adult in charge and try to get on their good side?
• Is s/he desperate for affection from adults?
• Is s/he worryingly overfriendly with strangers?
• When some children are trying to get on good terms with a stranger, they ask personal questions that most children would know to be nosey. Does s/he do this?
• If s/he is upset or hurt, will s/he sometimes prefer to get comfort from a stranger than from someone s/he is close to?
• If you are in a new place, is x more likely than other children of his/her age to wander away from you?
• Does s/he form many shallow relationships with adults?

(B) Attention seeking items

• Does s/he tend to cling to anyone and everyone?
• Some children have an irritating habit of hanging on to adults when they try to walk around the house, so that they feel they either have to drag the children around or peel them off. Is s/he like that?
• Some children are too eager to please, immediately doing exactly what adults want. Is s/he like that?
• Is s/he very possessive of you, not wanting to share you or let you be affectionate with anyone else?
• Does s/he need to be the centre of attention?
• Is s/he desperate for affection from adults?
• Some children are very wary or watchful, often seeming to be on the lookout for danger, or behaving as if they expect to be attacked or hit at any moment. Has x ever been like this since you’ve known him/her?

(C) Superficial relationships items

• Does s/he form many shallow relationships with adults?
• When s/he is affectionate towards you, does it feel shallow or put on?
• Does s/he avoid emotional closeness with adults s/he knows well?
• Does s/he have difficulty trusting adults s/he knows well?
• If x were struggling with a task and you offered to help, would s/he find it hard to accept that help?
• Does s/he actively avoid looking at you or other people directly in the eyes, for example staring in a different direction or turning his/her head away?

(D) Unpredictability items

• When you and the child meet up again after being apart for a while, for example while s/he has been at school is s/he generally bad tempered with you?
• When you and the child meet up again after being apart for a while, for example while s/he has been at school does s/he generally ignore you?
• Is it hard to know if s/he will be friendly or unfriendly with you?
• Does s/he actively avoid looking at you or other people directly in the eyes, for example staring in a different direction or turning his/her head away?