Commentary: Increasing diagnostic precision in reactive attachment disorder – a commentary on Allen & Schuengel (2019)

A study by Allen and Schuengel in this issue of the journal replicates and extends previous findings by Woolgar and Baldock (2015) indicating that community practitioners are far more likely to diagnose reactive attachment disorder in symptomatic children than are specialists using well‐validated measures. We consider historic variability in how this disorder is defined but note an emerging consensus in nosologies and among researchers. We consider how more systematic assessments might improve diagnostic efforts to specify the kinds of clinical phenomena that are associated with neglect and deprivation.