Separation anxiety in parents of adolescents: theoretical significance and scale development.
Parents of adolescents commonly face separation-related issues associated with children's increasing independence and imminent leave-taking. The aims of this investigation were (1) to develop a reliable and valid measure of parental emotions associated with separation and (2) to validate the measure by relating it to other attributes (attachment relationship quality, parent-child communication, and parent-adolescent differentiation) assessed in mothers, fathers, and their adolescents. The newly constructed, 35-item Parents of Adolescents Separation Anxiety Scale (PASAS) was administered to 686 parents of teenagers in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 or college-bound freshmen and seniors. Factor analyses supported formation of two subscales: Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR); both subscales showed distinctive patterns of change with child age. Parents' reports indicated that healthy adult attachment styles were associated with lower AAD and higher CSBR scores; children of parents who had higher AAD scores reported lower quality of attachment to both mothers and fathers.
Hock
E
E
Department of Human Development and Family Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA. hock.1@osu.edu
Eberly
M
M
Bartle-Haring
S
S
Ellwanger
P
P
Widaman
K F
KF
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires