Clinical characteristics and treatment responses in cases diagnosed as reactive attachment disorder

The aim of our study is to report the relation between pathological care an d impairment in social interaction, communication, language development, an d stereotypical behaviors. Fifteen cases (9 boys, 6 girls) who have the sym ptoms listed above and who were misdiagnosed with pervasive developmental d isorder (PDD), were referred to our clinic for evaluation and treatment. Af ter the cases were evaluated by a semi-structured interview, symptoms relat ed to pathological care were fortified; maternal depressive symptoms associ ated with child neglect and overexposure to television viewing. The cases a nd the mothers/primary caretakers were treated in a standardized psyche-edu cational program of 3 months. After this period improvements were observed in all of the symptom clusters. Twelve cases (80%) had improvements in eye contact. Eleven cases (73.3%) began to engage in reciprocal play and ten ca ses (66.6%) showed social imitative behaviors. Six cases (40%) began to for m sentences. Stereotypic behaviors diminished in six cases (40%) and disapp eared in nine cases (60%). According to our findings, although the symptoms of PDD and reactive attachment disorder (RAD) resemble Each other, presenc e of pathological care and good response to treatment in RND can be importa nt for the differential diagnosis with PDD.