Reactive Attachment Disorder symptoms in adults with intellectual disabilities

Background Studies with children suggest that reactive attachment disorder (RAD) is associated with pathogenic early care. Little is known about RAD in adults with intellectual disabilities, many of whom experience adversity and abuse in early life. We investigated whether RAD symptoms occur in this population, and explored whether hypothesized risk factors are associated with higher RAD symptom scores. Method Fifty adults with intellectual disabilities residing in long-stay hospitals and their carers participated in a questionnaire survey of RAD symptoms, childhood experiences, and disabilities. Results Reactive attachment disorder symptoms were present in this sample, and symptom scores were independently associated with early childhood adversity, diminished with age, but were not associated with cognitive ability, gender, other disabilities, nor number of childhood years in institutional care. Conclusions As with children with RAD, it is possible that some maltreated adults with intellectual disabilities fail to develop stranger anxiety by the usual developmental age. Over decades, they may gradually lear