This paper examines the various symptoms of Separation Anxiety Disorder among children and adolescents, the refusal of children diagnosed with Separation Anxiety Disorder to go to school, and the treatments that are used to treat this disorder. Studies have shown that Separation Anxiety Disorder is the third most common anxiety disorder among children. Symptoms are fairly easy to recognize, but must be addressed quickly. Refusal to go to school is one of the most significant consequences of this disorder. Treatments are being made available to children who suffer from this disorder and advances in research are being made.
As human beings, we all have the capability of experiencing emotions and feelings. People can experience happiness, sadness, joy, sorrow, pain, excitement, and many other emotions. For example, how would one expect a child to feel if their parental figure got deployed to Iraq for a year? One feeling that is quite common, especially among adolescents and children is anxiety, more specifically, separation anxiety. Although many people are unaware of its existence, social anxiety disorder is the third most common psychiatric disorder, after depression and alcoholism, according to the Medical Research Council on Anxiety Disorders. Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) affects between 3% and 13% of adolescents (Eisen & Schaefer,
2005). While some people believe that separation anxiety is simply a fear of being alone that is caused by simple factors such as smothering a child or never leaving a child in the care of another human being, this disorder is a complex and multifaceted emotion that can be caused by several factors such as changes in the environment, stress, or the build of a family. This paper will focus on ...
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Works Cited
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Eisen, N. R., & Schaefer, C. E. (2005). Separation anxiety in children and adolescents, an individualized approach to assessment and treatment. The Guilford Press.
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The primary diagnosis for Amanda Anderson is separation anxiety disorder (SAD) with a co-morbidity of school phobia. Separation anxiety disorder is commonly the precursor to school phobia, which is “one of the two most common anxiety disorders to occur during childhood, and is found in about 4% to 10% of all children” (Mash & Wolfe, 2010, p. 198). Amanda is a seven-year-old girl and her anxiety significantly affects her social life. Based on the case study, Amanda’s father informs the therapist that Amanda is extremely dependent on her mother and she is unenthusiastic when separated from her mother. Amanda was sitting on her mother’s lap when the therapist walked in the room to take Amanda in her office for an interview (Morgan, 1999, p. 1).
From birth to about six months old, an infant doesnÂ’t seem to mind staying with an unfamiliar person (Brazelton, 1992), although the infant is able to distinguish his mother from other people (Slater, et al, 1998). As the infant gets a little older, at about eight to ten months, he/she begins to cry when his caregiver is not his mother or father; and again between eighteen and twenty-four months, when the infant finds out he/she has some control over what happens (Schuster, 1980). Separation anxiety could, and often does, make parents feel guilty for leaving their child and might make them wonder if they are causing their child undue stress.
In many ways, attitudes about babies and separation are cultural. In some other cultures, babies in Cameron age are rarely separate from their mothers. In addition, I believe that the mother may suffering separation anxiety. Parents worry when they leave their babies in daycare especially for first time. “They worry if the caregiver will really know how to care for their children. They feel loss because this may be the first time their children are away this long time. They may also feel loss because they work full time and cannot be to help their children adjust in person. They may feel guilty if they have to leave a crying child and go off to
One important component of Attachment theory talks about fear children have in which children have less fear when they are aware of their primary caregivers’ availability and affection leads to a secure attachment to form between a caregiver and child. On the other hand, Erikson states that if the virtue of hope is not established then an infant will have a fear and start to mistrust and this will affect the development. This will have an effect on the confidence that the children develop during infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. A child can start to present separation anxiety and stranger anxiety at around 9 to 18 months a child had a stranger anxiety when they were young, that may affect their development based on the type of Patterns of attachment are secure, avoidant, and ambivalent. If a child had a secure attachment he will probably not have any form of trust issues and long-lasting relationships, a secure attachment will impact his self-esteem and have a good healthy relationship with his parents and friends and seek out social support from others because of him being able to function by himself in his adolescence and adulthood. On the other hand, if a child experienced avoidant or
Family therapy is often needed when families go through transitions such as separations between parents and divorce. According to research, “the power of family therapy derives from bringing parents and children together to transform their interactions” (Nichols, & Davis, p.18), as problems need to be addressed at their source. The children who are the most vulnerable, when parents decide to separate, exhibit symptoms which are exaggerations of their parent’s problems (Nichols, & Davis, p.18). Frank and Walt Berkman are the examples of how children cope and adapt to the stressors of family separations such as marital separations and
Preschool age children, ages three to five, many times react with feelings of anger and sadness. Many of the preschool age children will regress after the initial shock of the separation. Signs of regression could be once again asking for a security blanket, bedwetting, returning to thumb sucking, needing help feeding themselves, or hitting their siblings. The children in this age group are more anxious and insecure than a child growing up in a two-parent home (Teyber 11). The majority of the children in the preschool age-group have abandonment issues and fear that since one parent has left the home that the other may move out as well. As the children get older the effects the divorce has on them is different but no less traumatizing.
Steensel, F. J., Bögels, S. M., & Perrin, S. (2011, July 07). Anxiety Disorders in Children and
Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is prevalent in 4.1% of children aged 7 – 11 and 3.9% in children 12 – 14 years old in the United States ("Separation Anxiety Disorder Related," n.d.). SAD onset is most common during the ages of seven to t...
"Effects of Separation and Attachment." Practice Notes. Jordan Institute for Families, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
Scher, A., Hershkovitz, R., & Harel, J. (1998). Maternal separation anxiety in infancy: Precursors and outcomes. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 29(2), 103-111. doi:10.1023/A:1025031931770
The Beck Anxiety Inventory was designed by Aaron T. Beck and is self report scale that consists of 21 items. The items are short and straightforward, making it easy to read and comprehend. All items are related to anxiety and describe a symptom of anxiety that is rate on a four point likert scale according to severity. The answers range from 0-3 and the responses range from “not at all” to “severely; I could barely stand it” and all items are added for a total score. The instructions on the test ask for the respondent to “indicate how much you have been bothered by each symptom during the past week, including today, by placing an X in the corresponding space in the column next to each symptom” (Dowd, 2008). The assessment is intended for adolescents and adults and can be administered individually or in a group setting. An additional copy of the inventory test is also available in Spanish. It was originally created from a sample of 810 outpatients of that were predominately affected by mood and anxiety disorders and research on the original development is described as informative and thorough.
Schaffer and Emerson (1964) challenged some of Bowlby’s claims which believed that babies have some biological need to attach to their mothers, or at least to a permanent carer. Schaffer and Emerson carried out an ethological study in Scotland which consisted of 60 babies from a working-class sector of Glasgow during the first eighteen months of their lives. They interviewed the mothers every 4 weeks and asked them several questions related to their child’s reaction when faced with a separation distress, e.g. who they smile at, who they respond to, who affects the child most when they leave and so on. Schaffer and Emerson used the results of their interviews to measure separation anxiety. They also observed how the children responded to the presence of the researchers noting how close they could get to the child before causing sings of distress (when they begin to look for their mothers, whimpering). They used these findings to measure stranger anxiety. The research showed as well that many of the children were actually attached to several people. According to Schaffer and Emerson this occurs when there is more than one person in the child’s life who took an interest in them and the infants became attached to them.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2009). Studying anxiety disorders. NIH Medline plus, 5, 13-15. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml
We are currently in the twenty-first century and young adults are feared by many things called social phobias. For example, social phobias would be public speaking, which many people dread and some young adults fear this much more than others. These young adults are at risk for having depression associated with their anxiety. In a 2001 article about social anxiety it explains, how young adults might need intervention to get through their anxiety and depression, this could be there only medicine (Stein 2001). Many studies have been linked to social phobias in young adults by doing surveys. These surveys gave results which helped psychologist figure out what the best treatments could be for these young adults.
A longitudinal study of one hundred and eighty seven children ages five and six has shown us that parental separation is greatly associated with an increased rate of emotional and behavioral problems in children (Clemens,...