At What Age Does Reactive Attachment Disorder Appear?

Reactive Attachment Disorder: Early Signs, Age of Onset & Impact

Reactive attachment disorder usually starts in infancy and is typically diagnosed in children between 9 months and 5 years of age. Symptoms often appear before the age of 5, indicating that the child reaches the developmental age of at least 9 months.

What is Reactive Attachment Disorder?

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is a condition that affects children as they fail to form healthy emotional bonds with their parental figures. This happens due to emotional neglect or abuse at an early age. Children suffering from RAD face difficulties in managing their emotions properly.

How a Child Can Develop RAD?

Children  can develop RAD if they face these situations, including:

• Having different parents or caregivers, like multiple foster care situations.
• If someone has taken the child from the caregiver after bonding with them emotionally.
• The child has experienced several traumatic losses in early life.
• Staying with someone who does not want to become emotionally close to them.
• Residing and spending most of the time in any institution, like an orphanage, where they do not get any loving parents.

In certain cases, if the parent does not have proper knowledge regarding the child’s past, they might face difficulties in forming a bond with them.

What are the Symptoms of RAD?

The most common symptom of RAD in children is a persistent failure to form healthy relationships or attachments with caregivers, resulting in behavioural and emotional difficulties.

However, RAD exhibits different symptoms in infants, young children, and older children. These include:

Infants and Young Children

Here are some of the RAD symptoms in infants and young children.

• Lack of Emotional Responsiveness: Children suffering from RAD fail to smile and show limited emotional expressions, or do not respond to comfort.
• Avoidance of Physical Contact: Shows resistance to hugs or cuddles, failure to seek comfort when distressedand always avoids eye contact with their caregivers.
• Difficulties in Forming Attachments: They do not feel comfortable seeking any kind of affection from their caregivers. Additionally, they do not make distinctions between strangers and familiar people.  
• Emotional Outbursts: Children suffering from RAD exhibit symptoms, like frequent tantrums, irritability, or expressions of anger.
• Inhibited or Disinhibited Behaviours: They usually withdraw from social situations, or over friendly interactions with strangers.  

Older Children

In older children, RAD may exhibit these symptoms:

• Academic and Behavioural Problems: Faces difficulties in school, shows a rule-breaking attitude, and aggression.
• Relationship Problems: They face extreme difficulties in forming and maintaining healthy relationships with peer groups.
• Emotional Difficulties: Consistent episodes of depression, anxiety, or mood swings.
• Substance Abuse: Due to complete isolation from society, RAD in older children increases the risk of substance abuse (drugs and alcohol). Rare before adolescence; more common in untreated RAD progressing to adulthood.

What are the Complications of RAD?

Emotional, social, and physical neglect and abuse can put children at increased risk for complications in childhood and adolescence. These complications may include:

• Facing delays in the development of physical growth and emotional milestones.
• Development of serious emotional problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and anger management issues.
• Eating disorders at an early age.
• Risk-taking abilities, like engaging in sexual activity at a very tender age.

Without treatment, children suffering from RAD may experience symptoms into adulthood, which will affect their functioning in society. Treatments may offer emotional support to your child, which may improve their mental condition.