Reactive attachment disorder is a relatively new diagnosis that is not well studied. Conflicting ideas about its etiology and presentation pervade the theoretical, research, clinical, and popular literature. Clarifying core characteristics of this disorder and distinguishing them from comorbid conditions are critical for improved diagnosis and treatment of children with attachment problems.

Families involved in the child welfare system overwhelmingly draw from low socioeconomic (SES) populations. Impoverished children are placed in foster care at disproportionate rates. Addressing this dynamic requires understanding the adaptations low‐income families make when parenting under adversity so that accurate assessments of their needs occur. This article focuses on two aspects of child welfare practice: the evaluation of parenting capacity and service delivery. It examines, in particular, how well current practices and guidelines, as outlined in the literature, fit with more general research on families and parenting in low‐SES environments and offers suggestions for improving practice.

Traditional views of psychotherapy hold that termination allows both for a consolidation of therapeutic work and an opportunity to work through issues of separation and loss. Such a view suggests not only that those issues will resolve in treatment, but also that endings are inevitable, permanent, and that the feelings invoked can and should be mastered and worked through. Recent research on termination, attachment, loss and grieving suggests a different conception. Consideration of that research can better ground therapists in more nuanced techniques for ending treatment in both child and adult psychotherapy.

Attachment theory and research has proliferated in recent years, spawning new ideas and applications to child therapy. Some of those interventions are creative and useful and rest on solid theory and research, whereas others derive from tenuous assumptions. As an important developmental construct, attachment plays a role in every therapy, but defining that role can be difficult. Therapists must recognize the significance of attachment in treatment but not at the expense of recognizing and treating other issues. This article provides an overview of attachment theory and attachment-based interventions and discusses how to apply those constructs to therapeutic work with children. It reviews attachment theory, assessment, and treatments, and discusses how attachment-focused interventions can be combined with other therapeutic needs and methods. It also considers limitations in the current clinical application of attachment and makes recommendations for further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

A B S T R AC TEndings in youth mentoring relationships have received little attention to date despite the frequency with which they occur. In this paper, we bring an attachment theory perspective to bear on youth mentoring relationship closures and consider how the rich empirical and theoretical literature on attachment can inform mentoring programme practice and possibly help prevent premature and poorly handled mentoring relationship endings. We consider what is known about endings in youth mentoring relationships, articulate an attachment perspective on mentoring relationships and their endings and offer recommendations informed by these literatures for how mentoring programmes can promote positive closure when relationships come to an end.