Adult attachment styles in panic disorder with and without comorbid adult separation anxiety disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Attachment theory suggests that anxious attachment styles are associated with risk to psychiatric disorder, especially anxiety disorders. Separation anxiety would appear to be a core form of anxiety that is associated with anxious attachment. Nevertheless, as yet no research has examined the relationship of attachment styles to adult separation anxiety disorder, a condition that has only recently been fully recognized.


METHODS
The Attachment Style Questionnaire was used to examine attachment styles among 83 consecutive anxiety clinic patients diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia and those re-assigned from that category to adult separation anxiety disorder.


RESULTS
Dimensional associations showed strong correlations with scales measuring anxious attachment and separation anxiety. Patients assigned to the separation anxiety group scored significantly higher than those in the panic disorder group on the scales of Need for Approval and Preoccupation with Relationships.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings finally dispel the notion that separation anxiety and anxious attachment are relevant to panic disorder with agoraphobia, suggesting instead that that constellation is confined to a separate group, namely that of adult separation anxiety disorder. Possible implications for treatment are considered.
Manicavasagar
Vijaya
V
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia. v.manicavasagar@unsw.edu.au
Silove
Derrick
D
Marnane
Claire
C
Wagner
Renate
R
D000328:Adult; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009769:Object Attachment; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult