Disabled children, maltreatment and attachment

Two bodies of literature on children with disabilities are identified and described. One recognizes an association between disability and maltreatment. The other finds an association between children with a disability and insecure attachments. The present paper seeks a theoretical integration between these two research traditions. The model generated examines the dynamics that affect a child with a disability’s attachment classification and risk of being maltreated in terms of a transaction between both parental and child factors. In the case of children with certain types of disability, unresolved parental states of mind with respect to attachment are seen as a risk factor for maltreatment. Implications for prevention, support and treatment are considered.