title: Separation anxiety disorder increases among neonatal intensive care unit graduates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether separation anxiety disorder (SAD) develops in the later life of the infants, who were separated from their mothers in relation to being in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
  
  
  METHODS
  A group of 57 children, ages over 6 years old who were cared in NICU has been evaluated retrospectively by using the SAD diagnostic scale which is adapted according to DSM-IV. Another age and sex matched 50 children who admitted to the outpatient unit were selected as control group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that the scores and incidence of SAD were increased among children who were cared in the NICU and both were correlated with the duration of stay in the NICU.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NICU should be arranged to support the development of the baby. Families should be informed about the necessity of sustaining an early mother-infant interaction. By supporting mother-infant interaction, it will be provided that the baby will establish a more secure relation with his/her mother, develop more healthy and have less behavior problems in the future life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Fatih University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Musemma
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karabel
authors.forename: Seda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Mustafa Mansur
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Tatli
authors.forename: Ayse Esra
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: Alparslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tonbul
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karadag
mesh_terms: D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies