Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 1/2009

Open Access 01-12-2009 | Review

Children with disrupted attachment histories: Interventions and psychophysiological indices of effects

Authors: Carlo Schuengel, Mirjam Oosterman, Paula S Sterkenburg

Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health | Issue 1/2009

Login to get access

Abstract

Diagnosis and treatment of children affected by disruptions of attachment (out of home placement, multiple changes of primary caregiver) is an area of considerable controversy. The possible contribution of psychobiological theories is discussed in three parts. The first part relates the attachment theoretical perspective to major psychobiological theories on the developmental associations of parent-child relationships and emotional response. The second part reviews studies of autonomic reactivity and HPA-axis activity with foster children, showing that foster children show more reactivity within physiological systems facilitating fight or flight behaviours rather than social engagement, especially foster children with atypical attachment behaviour. The third part is focused on treatment of children suffering from the consequences of disrupted attachment, based on a psychotherapy study with psychophysiological outcome measures. Implications are discussed for theory, diagnosis, and intervention.
Literature
1.
Van IJzendoorn MH, Bard KA, Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Ivan K: Enhancement of attachment and cognitive development of young nursery-reared chimpanzees in responsive versus standard care. Developmental Psychobiology. 2009, 51: 173-185. 10.1002/dev.20356.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Harlow H: The nature of love. American Psychologist. 1958, 13: 673-685. 10.1037/h0047884.CrossRef
3.
Nelson CA, Zeanah CH, Fox NA, Marshall PJ, Smyke AT, Guthrie D: Cognitive recovery in socially deprived young children: The Bucharest early intervention project. Science. 2007, 318: 1937-1940. 10.1126/science.1143921.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Rutter M, Colvert E, Kreppner J, Beckett C, Castle J, Groothues C, Hawkins A, O'Connor TG, Stevens SE, Sonuga-Barke EJ: Early adolescent outcomes for institutionally-deprived and non-deprived adoptees. I: Disinhibited attachment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 2007, 48: 17-30. 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01688.x.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Bradley SJ: Affect regulation and the development of psychopathology. 2000, New York: Guilford
6.
Hofer MA: Psychobiological roots of early attachment. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2006, 15: 84-88. 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2006.00412.x.CrossRef
7.
Porges SW: Social engagement and attachment: A phylogenetic perspective. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2003, 1008: 31-47. 10.1196/annals.1301.004.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Schore AN: Effects of a secure attachment relationship on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2001, 22: 7-66. 10.1002/1097-0355(200101/04)22:1<7::AID-IMHJ2>3.0.CO;2-N.CrossRef
9.
Bowlby J: Attachment and loss: Attachment. 1984, London: Penguin, 1: 2
10.
Rutter M, O'Connor TG, English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) Study Team: Are there biological programming effects for psychological development?: Findings from a study of Romanian adoptees. Developmental Psychology. 2004, 40: 81-94. 10.1037/0012-1649.40.1.81.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Schneider R, Baumrind N, Pavao J, Stockdale G, Castelli P, Goodman GS, Kimerling R: What happens to youth removed from parental care?: Health and economic outcomes for women with a history of out-of-home placement. Children and Youth Services Review. 2009, 31: 440-444. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2008.09.011.CrossRef
12.
Lawrence CR, Carlson EA, Egeland B: The impact of foster care on development. Development and Psychopathology. 2006, 18: 57-76. 10.1017/S0954579406060044.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Fox NA, Hane AA: Studying the biology of human attachment. Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Edited by: Cassidy J, Shaver PR. 2008, New York: Guilford, 217-240.
14.
Marshall PJ, Reeb BC, Fox NA, Nelson CA, Zeanah CH: Effects of early intervention on EEG power and coherence in previously institutionalized children in Romania. Development and Psychopathology. 2008, 20: 861-880. 10.1017/S0954579408000412.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
15.
Richards JE, Casey BJ: Heart-rate-variability during attention phases in young infants. Psychophysiology. 1991, 28: 43-53. 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1991.tb03385.x.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Fox NA, Card JA: Psychophysiological measures in the study of attachment. Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Edited by: Cassidy J, Shaver PR. 1999, New York: Guilford, 226-245.
17.
18.
Beauchaine TP, Gatzke-Kopp L, Mead HK: Polyvagal Theory and developmental psychopathology: Emotion dysregulation and conduct problems from preschool to adolescence. Biological Psychology. 2007, 74: 174-184. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.08.008.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
19.
Flinn MV, Geary DC, Ward CV: Ecological dominance, social competition, and coalitionary arms races: Why humans evolved extraordinary intelligence. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2005, 26: 10-46. 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.08.005.CrossRef
20.
Berntson GG, Cacioppo JT, Grossman P: Whither vagal tone. Biological Psychology. 2007, 74: 295-300. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.08.006.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Meredith P, Ownsworth T, Strong J: A review of the evidence linking adult attachment theory and chronic pain: Presenting a conceptual model. Clinical Psychology Review. 2008, 28: 407-429. 10.1016/j.cpr.2007.07.009.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Oosterman M, Schuengel C, Slot NW, Bullens RAR, Doreleijers TAH: Disruptions in foster care: A review and meta-analysis. Children and Youth Services Review. 2007, 29: 53-76. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.07.003.CrossRef
23.
Fisher PA, Stoolmiller M: Intervention effects on foster parent stress: Associations with child cortisol levels. Development and Psychopathology. 2008, 20: 1003-1021. 10.1017/S0954579408000473.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
24.
Oosterman M, Schuengel C: Autonomic reactivity of children to separation and reunion with foster parents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2007, 46 (9): 1196-1203. 10.1097/chi.0b013e3180ca839f.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Ainsworth MDS, Wittig BA: Attachment and exploratory behavior of one year olds in a strange situation. Determinants of infant behavior. Edited by: Foss BM. 1969, London: Methuen, 113-136.
26.
De Geus EJC, Van Doornen LJP: Ambulatory assessment of parasympathetic/sympathetic balance by impedance cardiography. Ambulatory assessment: Computer assisted psychological and psychophysiological methods in monitoring and field studies. Edited by: Fahrenberg J, Myrtek M. 1996, Berlin: Hogrefe & Huber, 141-164.
27.
Hill-Soderlund AL, Mills-Koonce WR, Propper C, Calkins SD, Granger DA, Moore GA, Gariepy JL, Cox MJ: Parasympathetic and sympathetic responses to the strange situation in infants and mothers from avoidant and securely attached dyads. Developmental Psychobiology. 2008, 50: 361-376.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Oosterman M, Schuengel C: Physiological effects of separation and reunion in relation to attachment and temperament in young children. Developmental Psychobiology. 2007, 49: 119-128.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Cassidy J, Marvin RS: Attachment organization in preschool children: Procedures and coding manual. Seattle, WA. Edited by: John D, Catherine T. 1992, MacArthur Network on the Transition from Infancy to Early Childhood
30.
Oosterman M, De Schipper JC, Fisher PA, Dozier M, Schuengel C: Autonomic reactivity in relation to attachment and early adversity among foster children. Development and Psychopathology in press.
31.
Oosterman M, Schuengel C: Attachment in foster children associated with caregivers' sensitivity and behavioral problems. Infant Mental Health Journal. 2008, 29: 609-623. 10.1002/imhj.20198.CrossRef
32.
Fisher PA, Gunnar MR, Dozier M, Bruce J, Pears KC: Effects of therapeutic interventions for foster children on behavioral problems, caregiver attachment, and stress regulatory neural systems. Resilience in Children. 2006, 1094: 215-225. 10.1196/annals.1376.023.
33.
34.
Bruce J, Fisher PA, Pears KC, LeVine S: Morning cortisol levels in preschool-aged foster children: Differential effects of maltreatment type. Developmental Psychobiology. 2009, 51: 14-23.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
35.
36.
Kaufman J, Birmaher B, Perel J, Dahl RE, Moreci P, Nelson B, Wells W, Ryan ND: The corticotropin-releasing hormone challenge in depressed abused, depressed nonabused, and normal control children. Biological Psychiatry. 1997, 42: 669-679.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Dozier M, Peloso E, Lewis E, Laurenceau JP, LeVine S: Effects of an attachment-based intervention on the cortisol production of infants and toddlers in foster care. Development and Psychopathology. 2008, 20: 845-859.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
38.
Fisher PA, Stoolmiller M, Gunnar MR, Burraston BO: Effects of a therapeutic intervention for foster preschoolers on diurnal cortisol activity. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2007, 32: 892-905.PubMedCentralCrossRefPubMed
39.
Robertson J, Robertson J: Young children in brief separation: A fresh look. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. 1971, 26: 264-315.PubMed
40.
Boris NW, Zeanah CH, Work Group on Quality Issues: Practice parameter for the assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder of infancy and early childhood. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2005, 44: 1206-1219.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Boris NW, Hinshaw-Fuselier SS, Smyke AT, Scheeringa MS, Heller SS, Zeanah CH: Comparing criteria for attachment disorders: Establishing reliability and validity in high-risk samples. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2004, 43: 568-577.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Zilberstein K: Clarifying core characteristics of attachment disorders: A review of current research and theory. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. 2006, 76: 55-64.CrossRefPubMed
43.
O'Connor TG, Zeanah CH: Attachment disorders: Assessment strategies and treatment approaches. Attachment and Human Development. 2003, 5: 223-244.CrossRefPubMed
44.
DeKlyen M, Greenberg MT: Attachment and psychopathology in childhood. Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications. Edited by: Cassidy J, Shaver PR. 2008, New York: Guilford, 637-665.
45.
Zeanah CH, Smyke AT, Koga SF, Carlson E: Attachment in institutionalized and community children in Romania. Child Development. 2005, 76: 1015-1028.CrossRefPubMed
46.
Bakermans-Kranenburg MJ, Van IJzendoorn MH, Juffer F: Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. Psychological Bulletin. 2003, 129: 195-215.CrossRefPubMed
47.
Sloan DM, Kring AM: Measuring changes in emotion during psychotherapy: Conceptual and methodological issues. Clinical Psychology-Science and Practice. 2007, 14: 307-322.CrossRef
48.
Griffin MG, Nishith P, Resick PA, Yehuda R: Integrating objective indicators of treatment outcome in posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychobiology of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 1997, 821: 388-409.
49.
Lindauer RTL, van Meijel EPM, Jalink M, Olff M, Carlier IVE, Gersons BPR: Heart rate responsivity to script-driven imagery in posttraumatic stress disorder: Specificity of response and effects of psychotherapy. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2006, 68: 33-40.CrossRefPubMed
50.
Olff M, de Vries GJ, Guzelcan Y, Assies J, Gersons BPR: Changes in cortisol and DHEA plasma levels after psychotherapy for PTSD. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2007, 32: 619-626.CrossRefPubMed
51.
Schuengel C, Sterkenburg PS, Jeczynski P, Janssen CGC, Jongbloed G: Supporting affect regulation in children with multiple disabilities during psychotherapy: A multiple case design study of therapeutic attachment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 2009, 77: 291-301.CrossRefPubMed
52.
Sterkenburg P, Schuengel C, Janssen C: Developing a therapeutic relationship with a blind client with a severe intellectual disability and persistent challenging behaviour. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2008, 30: 1318-1327.CrossRefPubMed
53.
Sterkenburg PS, Janssen CGC, Schuengel C: The effect of an attachment-based behaviour therapy for children with visual and severe intellectual disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. 2008, 21: 126-135. 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2007.00374.x.CrossRef
54.
Schuengel C, Janssen CGC: People with mental retardation and psychopathology: Stress, affect regulation and attachment. A review. International Review Of Research In Mental Retardation. 2006, 32: 229-260.CrossRef
55.
Main M, Hesse E: Parents' unresolved traumatic experiences are related to infant disorganized attachment status: Is frightened and/or frightening parental behavior the linking mechanism?. Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention. Edited by: Greenberg MT, Cicchetti D, Cummings EM. 1990, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 161-182.
56.
Chaffin M, Hanson R, Saunders BE, Nichols T, Barnett D, Zeanah C, Berliner L, Egeland B, Newman E, Lyon T, LeTourneau E, Miller-Perrin C: Report of the APSAC task force on attachment therapy, reactive attachment disorder, and attachment problems. Child Maltreatment. 2006, 11: 76-89.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Children with disrupted attachment histories: Interventions and psychophysiological indices of effects
Authors
Carlo Schuengel
Mirjam Oosterman
Paula S Sterkenburg
Publication date
01-12-2009
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health / Issue 1/2009
Electronic ISSN: 1753-2000
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-3-26

Other articles of this Issue 1/2009

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 1/2009 Go to the issue

Commentary

Irritable mood and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Research

Drug monitoring in child and adolescent psychiatry for improved efficacy and safety of psychopharmacotherapy

Research

Evaluation of the psychometric properties of a modified version of the Social Phobia Screening Questionnaire for use in adolescents

Review

Early stress exposure: Concepts, findings, and implications, with particular emphasis on attachment disturbances

Research

A pilot study evaluating a support programme for parents of young people with suicidal behaviour

Research

Prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM IV mental disorders and their severity among school going Omani adolescents and youths: WMH-CIDI findings