Being loved and cared for at an early age teaches children how to develop relationships. Reactive attachment disorder can develop when a child doesn’t receive adequate love, attention and caring. It’s seen in children who’ve lived in orphanages or moved around between foster homes. It also occurs in those who’ve been abused or removed from their primary caregiver.
Risk factors of RAD are seen in these examples of poor caretaking:
Leaving an infant in a dirty diaper for hours
Allowing a child to go hungry frequently
Not comforting a child who’s in distress (e.g., allowed to cry for hours)
Ignoring a baby for hours at a time
Teaching a child that the only time they get attention is when they act out
A home environment where a child is emotionally or physically neglected and abused