title: Adult separation anxiety and TCI-R personality dimensions in patients with anxiety, alcohol use, and gambling: a preliminary report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nowadays, adult separation anxiety disorder (ASAD) is an established diagnostic category but is little investigated in subjects with addictive behaviours.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the presence of ASAD among patients with addictive disorders in comparison with anxiety patients and measure the personality correlates in all these groups.
  
  
  METHODS
  103 outpatients, meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for anxiety disorders (38 patients), alcohol dependence (30 patients), or pathological gambling (35 patients), were assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for Separation Anxiety Symptoms (SCI-SAS) and the Adult Separation Anxiety Checklist (ASA-27) for separation anxiety and by the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) for personality characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ASAD is detected in 34.2% of anxiety patients, 13.3% of alcoholics, and 11.4% of gamblers. Separation anxiety scores correlate positively with harm avoidance and negatively with self-directedness in all groups; further correlations are seen among addictive patients only, that is, self-transcendence for gamblers and cooperativeness for both alcoholics and gamblers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of ASAD is lower among addictive patients than in those with anxiety disorders; correlations are found between separation anxiety and specific TCI-R dimensions, with some matching across the three diagnostic groups.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gino
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5227-7974
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pozzi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2581-8824
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bruschi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4320-7194
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Angelis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3174-5414
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pascucci
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele Stavros
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6183-5365
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hatzigiakoumis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2015-3648
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grandinetti
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Nicola
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry and Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Janiri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016739:Behavior, Addictive; D005260:Female; D005715:Gambling / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
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