Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37568160›Full record

ArticleChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2023

Attachment disorder symptoms in foster children: development and associations with attachment security.

Josephine D Kliewer-Neumann, Janin Zimmermann, Ina Bovenschen, Sandra Gabler, Katrin Lang, Gottfried Spangler, Katja Nowacki

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Beyond psychotropics: critical strategies for supporting youth in foster care.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Josephine D Kliewer-NeumannRuhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. Josephine.Kliewer@rub.de.
Janin ZimmermannGerman Youth Institute, Munich, Germany.
Ina BovenschenUniversity of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Sandra GablerUniversity of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Katrin LangChild Guidance Center, Ingolstadt, Germany.
Gottfried SpanglerUniversity of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
Katja NowackiUniversity of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany.
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg · DEDortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts · DELudwig-Maximilians-Universität München · DERuhr University Bochum · DE

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft No. 89/1-1|SP 312/19-1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChildren in foster care constitute a risk population for developing symptoms of attachment disorders. However, little is known about the longitudinal course of attachment disorders and their association with attachment security in foster children.

methodThis longitudinal study assessed attachment disorder symptoms in a sample of foster children (n = 55) aged 12 to 82 months. Foster parents with a newly placed foster child were assessed at three points during the first year of placement. At all assessment points, the Disturbance of Attachment Interview (DAI; Smyke and Zeanah in Disturbances of attachment interview, Tulane University, New Orleans, 1999) and the Attachment Q-sort (AQS; Waters and Deane in Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 50:41-65, 1985 German version as reported (Schölmerich and Leyendecker in Deutsche Übersetzung des attachment behavior Q-Set, revision 3.2. Unpublished manual, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, 1999) were used to investigate the interplay between disorder symptoms and attachment security.

resultsThe results revealed that the symptoms of attachment disorders decreased. The decrease was more pronounced for the inhibited than for the disinhibited symptoms with marked changes in the first 6 months of placement. There was a noticeable gender difference in the development with boys showing a more pronounced decrease in inhibited attachment disorder symptoms and a stronger increase of attachment security. After 12 months, no significant gender effects were found. Regarding the association between symptoms of attachment disorders and attachment security, a significant negative correlation between the inhibited attachment disorder symptoms and attachment security was found 12 months after placement.

conclusionsAttachment disorder symptoms decreased in the stable foster care environment. Thus, foster care seems to be an effective placement option regarding children's attachment development.

Indexed as

AttachmentDisinhibited social engagement disorderFoster careReactive attachment disorder

Identifiers

PMID37568160
PMCPMC10422696
OpenAlexW4385760919

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.