Separation Anxiety in Children

Very young children who are removed face an additional danger added by the experience itself, which is separation. The emotional and developmental harm that may come to them is related to how they perceive the reason for the

In the late 1960’s John Bowlby created the attachment theory. The attachment theory is a concept in developmental psychology, which in personal development concerns the importance of attachment. Specifically, it makes the claim that the ability for an individual to form an emotional and physical attachment to another person. It gives a sense of ability and security necessary to take risks, to branch out, to grow, and develop a personality. The attachment theory is mainly focused on long-term relationships and bonds, particularly between a parent and child.

There may be at least one or two females in your office who have already gone through your situation. Have a talk with them and get some tips on how they had cope with baby separation anxiety. Since they have experienced what you are going through, their tips will be of high value for you.

When interviewing Robert, he did not exhibit or mention any form of separation anxiety when he was an infant. Robert had mentioned that “I was alone a lot, my mother was always working”. Concluding, that with the lack of a father figure missing from his life that his mother had to take both roles of both parents. Causing him from a young age to skip the feeling of anxiety because he was too young to either remember or too young to full understand what separation anxiety is. Although, with the lack of a mother being around growing up that did not stop Robert from living a fun life as a child in the

Due to these results it shows that although there are obviously difficulties for children adjusting to a separated family, it has an even larger effect than anticipated. One major result of the study showed that males are more deeply affected by a separation in the family. This is due to the fact that in a separation, the children generally stay with the mother, thereby removing the child from a father figure and role model. As well males are more likely to externalize their frustration through behavioural and anti-social issues more so than women.

Symptoms of children suffering from separation anxiety at home refuse to go to school, refuse to go on outings, difficulty sleeping alone, and scary dreams about being separated.

This children’s picture book is ideal for kindergarten students because it can be used to reassure children (ages 4-6) troubled by separation anxiety especially at times of separation, whether at the start of the school year, daycare, or camp. In addition, the book targets children’s affective developmental domain which consists of fostering a sense of self. Precisely, this book

When a child experiences anxiety due to separation from their primary care giver we refer to this phenomena as Separation anxiety. This phase in the developmental stages is pretty common at around 8 months lasting until the child is approximately 14 months of age.

Separation Anxiety (DSM-IV-TR code 309.21) is a disorder that occurs during infancy and childhood. The anxiety must be present for 4 months before the age of 18 and cause distress to the child’s daily life. Separation Anxiety diagnosed in children of the ages 6 and younger is early onset. Excessive high levels of anxiety characterize it when the child is separated from his primary caregiver or home. Anxiety is a normal reaction when a child is away from their parents, but a child with separation anxiety reacts in a manner that’s not age appropriate. Children with separation anxiety becomes highly disturbed when leaving the place, figure, or person they’re attached to because they believe harm will come to them when they are away. While away

Building on this egocentric behavior, the child may also exhibit bad behavior to achieve attention. By throwing tantrums, crying and getting “hurt” she will be doted on and her ego will be sustained until she desires more attention. The child may also show separation anxiety if her parents are away. Her thought process would not allow her to understand that, although she is of the utmost of importance to her family, they may have other obligations. This anxiety could overwhelm her with thoughts of being abandoned and never seeing her family again.

Separation anxiety is a big problem for children these days. In this research I will be discussing overview of separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is defined as a condition in which a child starts to be frightened and scared to be left alone from someone that child really love to be with. Separation anxiety is a typical for young children. Specifically, children in eight to fourteen months old. Children usually go through a specific time during their life that they will cling to their parent or somebody that they really love. Separation anxiety can be joined with holding panic attack that is possible to happen with being able to have a comorbid panic disorder. There are signs and symptoms of having separation. Which can include crying,

From the information gathered in the intake interview, it has been reported that the client is experiencing symptoms including recurrent excessive distress when anticipating or experiencing separation from his home and parents, persistent reluctance or refusal to go out away from home due to fear of separation, persistent and excessive fear of or reluctance about being alone or without his parents at home or in other settings, repeated nightmares involving the theme of separation, and repeated complaints of physical symptoms when separated from his parents.

Anxiety is common diagnoses, separation anxiety is even more common. Researchers found that about 20% of children and adolescents are diagnosed with anxiety, out of those 20% of children roughly around 13% of those cases are separation anxiety. (Doobay, A. F., 2008) Separation anxiety is defined as, “Children with separation anxiety disorder have an excessive and unrealistic fear of separation from an attachment figure that is beyond what would be expected from a child’s developmental level” ( In-Albon, T., Meyer, A., & Schneider, S., 2013). After researching common signs of this type of anxiety, I found that this was defiantly something I suffered from as a child and still working to cure it. Researching I found the signs, causes, and effects

As a caregiver, I know separation anxiety is a natural part of development for babies and kids. On the other hand, as a mother, I know that most parents feel some anxiety about saying goodbye, too. It can be especially intense in the first year, when parents worry so much about safety, feeding, sleeping and so on. Moreover, some parents feel guilty that they leaving their babies, and they cannot face the situation by saying goodbye, instead they prefer to sneak out the situation rather than seeing the baby crying. However, it is the caregiver responsibility to build healthy relation based on trust not only with the baby but also with the parents. Nevertheless, it may be even better, ahead of time, to start prepare the parents not only the baby

It is evident that parents play an essential role in helping the child to cope with separation anxiety and perhaps, even hold the key to solve the child’s problem of separation anxiety. However, when parents use the wrong approaches, it may in fact worsen the child’s condition as explored by the various articles.