attachment disorder

American  

noun

Psychology.

1. an emotional and behavioral disorder arising from a failure to form a strong bond with one’s primary caregiver in early childhood and affecting one’s social relationships in later childhood and adulthood.

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Etymology

Origin of attachment disorder

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Allan said he was diagnosed with an attachment disorder after watching his mother die in a car accident when he was three.

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2024

Lenhardt’s daughter, who has autism, intellectual disability and a severe attachment disorder, is often violent, and has been a frequent visitor to Seattle Children’s over the past few months.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 23, 2023

Whatever it is — Berlin gently suggested it’s an attachment disorder, because “how we learn to self-soothe comes out of our attachments” — I know it will take longer than a single January to locate.

From Washington Post • Feb. 1, 2022

According to the Mayo Clinic, reactive attachment disorder occurs when a child’s basic needs for nurturing, comfort and affection are not met, and the child fails to establish any stable, loving attachments with a caregiver.

From Washington Times • May 30, 2016

Often, struggling adoptive families are counseled by peers to consider the possibility of reactive attachment disorder, or RAD, a severe and uncommon condition that traditionally results when children’s earliest bonds are broken.

From Slate • Mar. 6, 2014