A psychoanalyst named John Bowlby researched extensively in child development and came up with the idea of attachment theory, which is still very influential today and has been built upon since. The idea has to do with how infants bond with their caregivers and how that affects their development. In its very basic form, attachment theory classifies individuals into 3 different attachment styles: secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant. If the infant’s caregiver (primarily the mother or parents) is responsive to their needs, the infant develops a secure attachment style. If the caregiver is inconsistently responsive, sometimes there and sometimes not, the infant develops an anxious/ambivalent style. If the caregiver is not responsive, the infant develops an avoidant attachment style. Generally, secure individuals easily form normal relationships, anxious/ambivalent individuals are worried about their relationships and might get involved in them excessively, and avoidant individuals are more withdrawn in relationships.
These styles were exhibited in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation study in which infants were separated from their mothers. Secure babies cried when their mothers left, and were happy when she came back. Anxious/ambivalent babies cried when their mothers left, then were happy that the mother came back, but also upset that she left. Avoidant babies had little reaction when the mother left, and little reaction when she returned. When the baby cries in distress at the mother’s absence, this is referred to as separation anxiety. Separation anxiety is a healthy sign of an attachment to a caregiver.
However, sometimes this separation anxiety becomes excessive and it becomes a case of a separation anxiety disorder. Separation anxiety disorders can occur in adults as well as children, and it’s actually more common in adults. Symptoms of separation anxiety disorders include extreme degrees of distress when a significant other is absent, fear that the significant other won’t return, fear of being alone, fear of events that will result in being separated from the significant other, the need to sleep with the significant other close by and recurring nightmares about being separated. Separation anxiety disorders are correlated with lower education and unstable home life, and individuals suffering from them often suffer from other psychiatric disorders like panic disorder later in life.
It’s important for clinical psychologists to be aware of the prevalence of separation anxiety disorders, but they’re also difficult to study because it’s hard to draw the line between when separation anxiety is normal and when it becomes excessive. There are factors like culture and traumatic events that might contribute to anxiety. This is why there’s still a lot more to be understood about how separation anxiety disorders work and how they develop.
