Continuities of separation anxiety from early life into adulthood

The study investigates whether a putative diagnosis of separation anxiety d isorder can be identified in adulthood and whether there are continuities b etween juvenile and adult forms of the disorder. Seventy patients with conv entional adult diagnoses of panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder attending an anxiety clinic were administered an interview and checklist t o assess separation anxiety (SA) symptoms in adulthood. Memories of early S A were assessed using the Separation Anxiety Symptom Inventory (SASI). A su bsample (n = 31) was used to calibrate the checklist against assignment to a category of adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) based on the structu red interview. In an expanded sample (n = 70), patients assigned to the ASA D category returned statistically higher scores on the SASI, with the sever ity of juvenile SA symptoms accounting for 33% of the variance of adult SA scores (p < .001). Assign ment of subjects to the putative ASAD category wa s not associated with any conventional adult anxiety diagnosis and symptoms of SA appeared to predate the onset of the other anxiety disorders. One po ssible explanation for the data is that. in some individuals. early onset s eparation anxiety disorder may persist into adulthood, but the symptoms may either be overlooked or, alternatively, obscured by secondary features suc h as panic. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.