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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Childhood separation anxiety and separation events in women with agoraphobia with or without panic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association between separation anxiety and actual separation events during childhood in adult patients with agoraphobia with or without panic disorder (PD). METHOD: Forty-two women with agoraphobia with or without PD participated in long-term follow-ups after exposure-in-vivo treatment. We assessed separation anxiety and separation events from age 0 to 18 years, as well as adult separation from a spouse. RESULTS: Childhood separation experiences (55%) and separation anxiety were significantly higher in patients than in healthy subjects, but both conditions were not associated with each other. Childhood separation anxiety was related to adult separation events. CONCLUSIONS: Retrospective measures of childhood separation anxiety appear to be confounded by adult separation events. Thus the conclusion of whether childhood anxiety is a consequence of actual childhood separation events cannot be drawn, owing to a lacking association between both ratings.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

On the ownership of thought: an approach to the origins of separation anxiety.

Separation anxiety is of major clinical significance, particularly in the management of personality disorder. Despite important advances, the origins of the phenomenon remain unclear. The hypothesis put forward here is that it is a manifestation of incomplete self-boundary formation. An elaboration of this idea, which has a Piagetian basis, provides an organizing framework for a therapeutic approach which is consistent with the empathic stance of the Kohutians and the recommendations of Winnicott.

Anxiety↗
PubMed1996

A short measure of social and separation anxiety.

Separation and social anxiety have often been seen to relate to different social fears. This paper outlines a pilot study on a short separation and social anxiety scale in relationship to depression. Results suggest an acceptable factor structure and reliability. Both separation and social anxiety were found to be associated with depression and submissive behaviour. The association of social anxiety to depression was particularly strong in a depressed group.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Separation anxiety and actual separation experiences during childhood in patients with panic disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The association between separation anxiety in childhood and actual separation experiences during childhood has not yet been investigated in patients with panic disorder. METHODS: In 115 patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia and in 124 control subjects without a history of psychiatric illness, we assessed separation anxiety during childhood, retrospectively, using DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria and the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI). In addition, actual separation experiences from age 0 to 15 years were assessed, retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 22.6% of the patients and 4.8% of the control subjects fulfilled both DSM-IV and ICD-10 criteria for childhood separation anxiety (chi 2 = 11.8; P < 0.0001). Further, 57.4% of the patients and 37.9% of the control subjects reported actual separation experiences during their childhood (chi 2 = 9.09, P < 0.003). Separation anxiety and actual separation experiences, however, were independent of each other. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that separation anxiety during childhood is not a consequence of actual traumatic separation experiences in panic disorder patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The relationship of maternal separation anxiety and differentiation of self to children's separation anxiety and adjustment to kindergarten: a study in Druze families.

The study explores relationships between preschoolers' separation anxiety and adjustment to kindergarten and their mothers' separation anxiety and levels of differentiation. It also examines the universality of several theoretical and clinical notions in Bowen's [Bowen, M. (1978). Family therapy in clinical practice. Aronson: New York] Family Systems Theory, by testing them in the Eastern-collectivist Israeli-Druze society. The main findings were positive correlations between mothers' and children's separation anxiety, as well as negative correlations between children's separation anxiety and maternal differentiation (for total DSI score and for emotional cutoff), so that lower differentiation and higher cutoff were associated with higher levels of anxiety. Another interesting finding was that teachers perceived the children of Druze working mothers as having more problematic behaviors than non-working mothers, pointing to poorer adjustment to kindergarten. Results suggest that a crucial balance of separation and closeness provides an optimal context for meeting the needs and promoting the healthy development of both mother and child. The present study is the first to indicate relations between mothers' differentiation and preschoolers' separation anxiety among Druze participants, partially supporting the universality of Bowen's theory "in all families and in all cultures" [Kerr, M., & Bowen, M. (1988). Family evaluation. New York: Norton, p. 202].

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Predicting children's separation anxiety at age 6: the contributions of infant-mother attachment security, maternal sensitivity, and maternal separation anxiety.

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the precursors and familial conditions which sustain school-aged children's separation anxiety. In a prospective, longitudinal study of 99 mother-child dyads, infancy measures of infant-mother attachment security, maternal separation anxiety, and maternal sensitivity were used to predict children's self-reported symptoms of separation anxiety at age 6. Insecurely attached children reported more separation anxiety than securely attached children. Insecure-ambivalent children reported marginally more separation anxiety than securely attached children, but not more than insecure-avoidant attached children. Regression analysis showed infant-mother attachment security and mother's sensitivity added uniquely to the prediction of children's separation anxiety, but mother's separation anxiety did not. Mediation tests show that the effect of mother's separation anxiety on children's separation anxiety may be mediated by maternal sensitivity. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

[Play therapy for a child with separation anxiety disorder].

Separation anxiety disorder is characterized by severe and exceeding anxiety and fear when a child is facing separation with attachment objects. More over, it affected the child in language, emotional and social interest and development. These children usually brought to physician's attention due to refusal to go to school, social withdraw or multiple somatic complaints with attachment behavior wanted to be nearby or closed to the attachment objects. A child's early attachment relationship and previous separation experience play a major role in the formation of separation anxiety disorder. This report presents a psychoanalytically-oriented play therapy for a 2-year-8-month-old boy in 17 months period total of 54 sessions. According to the main themes in each session the process can be divided into 4 stages, namely establishing therapeutic relationship, expressing repressed emotions, management of transference, attachment and conflict in therapy, and self growth and termination. The formulation of this case and management were discussed.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed2003

Separation anxiety in the elderly.

Separation anxiety has been studied in children and young adults but little is known about this form of anxiety in older people. This study aimed to examine socio-demographic, psychological and physical health correlates of separation anxiety in the elderly. Eighty-six ambulatory subjects aged 62-87 years were recruited from primary medical care practices to participate in this study. The presence of lifetime DSM-IV affective and anxiety disorders was determined by structured clinical interview. Subjects also completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring levels of state and trait anxiety, juvenile and adult separation anxiety. Adult separation anxiety scores were moderately correlated with juvenile separation anxiety scores (r= .52, P < .001), trait anxiety (r = .55, P < .001) and state anxiety scores (r = .66, P < .001), as well as younger age (r = .39, P < .001). Higher adult separation anxiety scores were also associated with a lifetime history of any anxiety disorder (t = 3.74, df = 84, P < .001) or any affective disorder (t = 2.12, df = 84, P < .05). However, adult separation anxiety was not associated with increasing age, being widowed, living alone or poorer physical health. Clinicians working with the elderly need to routinely explore this form of anxiety as it may complicate the pattern of presentation of other anxiety and affective disorders, and require specific forms of intervention.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Maternal separation anxiety: relations to adult attachment representations in mothers of infants.

Guided primarily by attachment theory, this longitudinal study explored how adult mental representations of attachment relationships and memories of childhood experiences with parents contributed to a mother's anxiety about separation from her own infant. The Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale, the Adult Attachment Interview, and the Mother-Father-Peer Scale were administered to a sample of 49 first-time mothers. The mothers with insecure attachment representations, when asked to remember details of their own childhood, reported more negative recollections of early parental caregiving, particularly rejection and discouragement of independence. When their own infants were 2 months old, these mothers experienced heightened levels of maternal separation anxiety. The findings provide theoretical and empirical support for the view that very high levels of maternal separation anxiety may indicate dysfunction.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Genetic and environmental influences on child reports of manifest anxiety and symptoms of separation anxiety and overanxious disorders: a community-based twin study.

Genetic and environmental influences in the determination of individual differences in self-reported symptoms of separation anxiety (SAD), overanxious disorder (OAD), and manifest anxiety (MANX) were evaluated in children and adolescents for three age groups (8-10, 11-13, and 14-16). Symptom counts for SAD and OAD were assessed for 1,412 twin pairs using the children's version of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment, and MANX scores were based on child report from the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scales. Despite significant age and gender differences in thresholds of liability for child reports of symptoms of SAD and OAD, additive genetic and environmental effects could be set equal across age and gender for these variables. For MANX, however, the best-fitting model was a common effects sex-limitation model with estimates of heritability varying dependent upon age and gender. Parameter estimates from the ACE models of OAD and SAD showed that additive genetic variation was a necessary component in the explanation of individual differences in child-reported symptoms of OAD (h2 = .37) across gender, but does not appear to be a major contributor to the explanation of individual differences in symptoms of SAD reported by children. Shared environmental effects (c2 = .40) were found to play a moderate role for SAD but could be dropped from the model for OAD and from all of the age groups for MANX, although the parameter approached significance among 11 yr to 13-year-old males.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Maternal separation anxiety in infancy: precursors and outcomes.

The relationships among aspects of mothers' childhood memories, her maternal anxiety--when separated from her infant and the child's attachment pattern were studied with 58 low risk dyads participating in a longitudinal investigation. It was found that mother's perceived relationships with her own mother significantly predicted her offspring's attachment to her. While maternal separation anxiety was equally characteristic of secure and insecure mothers at early infancy, by the end of the first year preoccupied mothers reported higher levels of maternal anxiety and separation concerns compared to the secure mothers. Although not designed as a clinical study, the present results highlight important psychological constructs and measurements which may be relevant for assessment and intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

The development of the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI).

Separation anxiety continues to be implicated as an early risk factor to adult emotional disorder but recent research findings are somewhat contradictory. Inconsistencies in approaches to measuring memories of early separation anxiety may have contributed to this lack of clarity. We report the development of a brief self-report instrument, the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI), which was designed to overcome some of these deficiencies in measurement. The SASI was shown to have a coherent factorial structure, high internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha > .80) and test-retest reliability over an average of 24 months (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient = .89), with serial scores not being affected by changes in contemporaneous anxiety levels. Some index of the validity of the measure was achieved by (a) comparing SASI scores of index twins with descriptors of their "insecure" behaviours in early life provided by corresponding co-twins; (b) comparing SASI scores with retrospective DSM III-R diagnoses of early anxiety disorders obtained by structured interviews; and (c) examining SASI scores in subjects with histories of school refusal. The SASI provides a useful standardised measure which will aid in the further testing of the separation anxiety hypothesis of adult emotional disorder.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Distinctions between separation anxiety and social anxiety in children and adolescents.

Separation anxiety and social phobia are intertwined to a considerable degree, and high comorbidity rates have been reported. The present study used latent class analysis (LCA) to investigate if classes of children and adolescents with-simultaneously-high rates of separation anxiety and low rates of social anxiety symptoms, or vice versa, could be identified. Eight- to 18-year-olds from a large general population (n=1000) and referred sample (n=735) were assessed with the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). With LCA, a separate class of referred 8-11-year-old children with high separation anxiety scores, and simultaneously lower social anxiety scores was identified, next to a class of children with high scores on separation anxiety and social anxiety. In the other groups (referred 12-18-year-olds and children and adolescents from the general population), a class with individuals who specifically scored high on separation anxiety could not be revealed. The results indicated that separation anxiety represents a different construct than social anxiety in referred children (but not in referred adolescents or in the general population). It can be concluded that, in referred children, research regarding etiology and treatment outcome of anxiety symptoms should be aimed specifically at separation anxiety and social anxiety, instead of just investigating a broader anxiety dimension.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Separation anxiety in adulthood: a phenomenological investigation.

Separation anxiety disorder is well recognized as a juvenile psychiatric disorder, but it appears to be rarely diagnosed in adulthood. Drawing on our clinical impressions and a review of the relevant literature, we sought to investigate whether separation anxiety symptoms could be identified in adulthood. Forty-four subjects recruited by a media campaign were administered a semistructured interview and a self-report checklist for adult separation anxiety (ASA) symptoms, as well as the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI), a retrospective measure of early separation anxiety symptoms. Diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD), panic disorder (PD), agoraphobia (Ag), and dependent personality disorder were made using the SCID-P and SCID-II. Thirty-six subjects met criteria for a putative diagnosis of ASA based on a global clinical rating and/or endorsement of DSM-IV-derived criteria. Although most subjects dated the separation anxiety symptoms to their juvenile years, it was notable that one third reported the first onset of separation anxiety symptoms in adulthood. Although comorbid lifetime anxiety or depressive disorders were common, the majority of subjects reported that the separation anxiety symptoms predated other axis I disorders. Only six subjects (17%) were diagnosed with dependent personality disorder. Although limited by the method of sampling, this preliminary study suggests the need to examine more systematically whether a form of separation anxiety disorder may occur in adulthood.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Mother's attachment concerns regarding spouse and infant's temperament as modulators of maternal separation anxiety.

The modulators of maternal separation anxiety were examined in a longitudinal study with 97 mothers of infants from 3 to 9 months of age. The objective of the study was to examine the joint contribution of the mother's attachment concerns as related to her husband together with the perception of the infant's temperament to her concerns over separation from her child. Maternal worries about separation from 3-month-old infants predicted maternal separation anxiety when infants were 9 months old. Mother's attachment to her husband and her perception of her child's temperament further predicted maternal separation anxiety at 9 months over and above the worries at 3 months. Mothers who feared dependent relationships with their husbands experienced high levels of maternal separation anxiety. This tendency was particularly marked when the infant was perceived as adaptable at 3 months. In addition, secure mothers, namely, mothers low in fear of abandonment and in fear of being dependent, increased their maternal separation anxiety as a function of their infant's perceived unadaptability.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

[Separation anxiety: a new category of anxiety disorders in children?].

The separation anxiety disorder is defined as an excessive anxiety when the child is separated from significant persons. It needs however to be distinguished from normal development separation anxiety because of the later age at onset, its persistence and general impact. We shall discuss the clinical aspects of this disorders, its complications and the issues raised by its outcome. The interesting characteristics of separation anxiety disorder are its frequency and different treatments available.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Father-child hospitalization in the separation anxiety].

Severe forms of separation anxiety disorder with school refusal can be difficult to treat: on the one hand the resistance to outpatient treatment is usual, on the other hand, fear of separation is so overwhelming that hospitalization can be seen as too dramatic. We suggest hospitalizing the child with his or her father as fear of separation with the mother is usually the main problem. We report a case study of a 13 year old child with separation anxiety disorder who refused to go to school and to be separated from his mother. Treatment consisted of hospitalizing the child with his father and to gradually restore his autonomy. The father was given the role of a co-therapist: the main therapeutic decisions about graduated exposure to separation were taken after discussion with the father who passed them on to the child. These structuring interventions re-established the father's control which helped to sedate the child's anxiety.

Adolescent↗